The Forsaken
Great natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina do indeed "wash away the surface of society, the settled way things have been done." In one sense, they remind us of our common vulnerabilities. As Sari Lankan tsunami victim Nimal Premasiri said of the American hurricane victims, "God has made us equals in birth, life and death." Yet such disasters also "expose the underlying power structures, the injustices, the patterns of corruption and unacknowledged inequalities." In the past week, the media has been slow to acknowledge the sharp inequalities revealed in Katrina's wake. Yesterday, CNN correspondent Jack Cafferty criticized his colleagues for ignoring the "elephant in the room" -- "the race and economic class of most of the victims the media hasn't discussed much at all." In truth, the images from the Superdome and from across the Gulf Coast of mostly poor and black Americans did much to reinforce the "growing sense that race and class are the unspoken markers of who got out and who got stuck." There, on camera, "the tired and hungry seethed, saying they had been forsaken." But images aren't enough. The story of Katrina's effect on the growing American underclass must still be told.

POVERTY AND NEW ORLEANS: Nearly a third of New Orleanians live below the poverty line. "Only a handful of large American cities have lower household incomes." Conditions are even worse for children. Fully half of the kids in Louisiana live in poverty -- the only state with a higher child poverty rate is Mississippi, another victim of Katrina. One quarter of New Orleans residents -- some 134,000 people -- don't own a car. The city is 67 percent African American, but the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, "which was inundated by the floodwaters," is more than 98 percent black. There, "only 6 percent of residents are college graduates," compared to the national average of 22 percent. "Average household income in that neighborhood is $27,499 a year, not even half the national average of $56,644. One-quarter of the Lower Ninth Ward's households earn less than $10,000 a year." The city was already vulnerable.

STRANDED -- AND STARING DOWN KATRINA: By Monday, harsh rain and 145 mph winds were bearing down on New Orleans. Tens of thousands "found themselves left behind by a failure to plan for their rescue," despite the fact that they were "living in tumbledown neighborhoods that were long known to be vulnerable to disaster if the levees failed." One CNN reporter noted, "A lot of the people we spoke to [who were stranded], these are people who work for a living. They're making minimum wage, they're supporting families. They don't have a car. They wanted to evacuate before the storm came, but they couldn't evacuate because they tell us they didn't have transportation." Time and again, residents despaired that Katrina had struck when it did, just a few days shy of payday. David Schuster observed, "Those are the people who died because they couldn't afford a tank of gas." Katrina had already demonstrated "what experts have known all along -- disasters do not treat everyone alike," said NBC's Bob Faw. "Surviving is easier for whites who have than for blacks who don't."

HORROR AT THE SUPERDOME: Those escaping the city by foot headed to the Superdome. "They were told, 'Go over there. Don't worry. You're going to get food and water and you're going to get transportation out of town,'" MSNBC reported. Instead, the refugees found a disorganized scene that quickly devolved into chaos: "A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. 'We pee on the floor. We are like animals,' said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. In her right hand she carried a half-full bottle of formula provided by rescuers. Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again. At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for. There is no sanitation. The stench is overwhelming." At one point, a despondent crowd gathered outside the stadium and simply began to chant "We want help! We want help!" Later, a woman stood on the front steps of the New Orleans convention center and "led the crowd in reciting the 23rd Psalm, 'The Lord is my shepherd...'"

DESPERATION TURNS TO LOOTING: Meanwhile, residents stuck in the city -- many of whom had been without food or water for days -- began looting local stores. "Much of what's being taken are essentials: anything edible, disposable diapers, water and clothes," reports noted. Yet looped images of people ransacking stores for electronics and luxury items were a staple of network coverage. Ironically, these events revealed the character of several prominent conservatives as much as anyone. Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan: "I hope the looters are shot." Glenn Reynolds, the most popular conservative blogger: "People [looting valuables] should be shot." Atlanta talk show host Neil Boortz: "Now I'm serious here ... not just saying this for effect. Shoot to kill."

RECOVERY WILL BE HAMPERED BY POVERTY: Already we know that recovery efforts following Katrina will be massive. President Bush has acknowledged that "New Orleans is more devastated than New York was" after the September 11 terrorist attacks. "We need an effort of 9-11 proportions," former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial said yesterday. "A great American city is fighting for its life." Yet the widespread poverty in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast means reconstruction will face an additional setback. "If this [level of disaster] were to happen in California, okay, fine. There's a number of incentives to sort of rebuild that area." NBC's Kevin Corke pointed out yesterday. "Imagine trying to do that in rural Mississippi. It's going to be difficult, and I think that there's a sense ... that this is going to take us into several administrations, I imagine, as they continue to try to bring back this area."

ADMINISTRATION
Incompetent Response
Disaster experts and Louisiana government officials charged the administration "failed to plan for a serious levee breech and the federal response to Hurricane Katrina was slow." The San Francisco Chronicle writes, "Disturbing images of thousands of Americans dehydrated, hungry and unable to escape an uninhabitable city are prompting angry questions about whether the richest nation in the world is doing everything it can to respond to New Orleans' disaster." CNN commentator Jack Cafferty emotionally disparaged the federal response: "No one -- no one -- says the federal government is doing a good job in handling one of the most atrocious and embarrassing and far-reaching and calamitous things that has come along in this country in my lifetime." The lack of straight answers regarding the administration's preparedness in the past, present, and future has only given rise to increasing public concern that that the federal government is not and has not been doing enough to help Katrina victims.

LOCAL OFFICIALS SEE NO COMMAND OR CONTROL: Local government officials in the disaster region are telling the story of an inadequate federal response to the hurricane recovery effort. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said federal officials "don't have a clue what's going on down here." Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said federal assistance has been problematic. "We would have wanted massive numbers of helicopters on Day One," Blanco said, while also calling for more troops. "This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control," said Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans's emergency operations. "We're just a bunch of rats. That's how they've been treating us." Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) noted he was calling the White House, pleading for more resources. "The state resources were being overwhelmed, and we needed direct federal assistance, command and control, and security -- all three of which are lacking." Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) said there was a failure think about a "holistic approach to the evacuation effort." "Help, help, help," came the plea from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. "This is a desperate S.O.S."

ADMINISTRATION IN DISARRAY: The response from the Bush administration has been an array of dizzying signals about its priorities and concern. FEMA Director Michael Brown, responding to the "horrible, horrible conditions" in the New Orleans Convention Center, said, "the federal government did not even know about the convention center people until today." Secretary Chertoff, when asked about the victims in the convention center, said, "I have not heard a report of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." In an interview with CNN, Chertoff offered little compassion for people who died or were trapped in cities due to the flooding. "Some people chose not to obey that [mandatory evacuation] order. That was a mistake on their part." In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush and other state officials criticized FEMA's decision to deny federal assistance to hurricane victims in that state.

CONCERNS OVER LEVEE FUNDING: The Washington Post reported that federal budget cuts last year "stopped major work on New Orleans east bank hurricane levees for the first time in 37 years." The problem resulted because the Bush administration "requested less money for programs to guard against catastrophic storms in New Orleans." President Bush has declared that no one "anticipated the breech of the levees," but a former FEMA official said earlier this year, "New Orleans was the No.1 disaster we were talking about." Disaster experts and frustrated officials "said a crucial shortcoming may have been the failure to predict that the levees keeping Lake Pontchartrain out of the city would be breached, not just overflow." Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, defended the administration by suggesting full funding would not have prevented the levee breech, but he admitted that had the flood control project been finished, "we could more efficiently move the water out of the system because it's a big drainage project." Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said, "There was a failure by [Bush] to meet the responsibility here.... Somebody needs to say it."

Hi,
The New Orleans disasters are heart breaking.
M.

Bizi,

This is a rich or middle class man's country IMO.

befuddled2

Has anyone put any thought into preparing for a hurricane without any air support? Think about it. Look at the New York area The NY TRACON is in Westbury and the ARTCC is in Ronkonkoma. They are about 35 miles apart. If one gets hit with a disaster what are the chances that the other will still be there and operational?

Most likely the radars and the phone lines plus the antennas and dishes will not be there. When the FAA did this I don't think they were thinking about any kind of disaster plan. I don't think that there is a government plan that tells you to put 2 vital systems only 35 miles apart. But this is happening all over the U.S.

If you think this is silly then you will love what I have to tell you about South Florida. They are putting the same to vital radar systems only 1.5 nautical miles apart. I would really like to see the government plan that tells them to endanger lives and the economy of an area. I have all the official paper work on this website. www.faahope.com I will fight this to try and save the people and businesses of South Florida. I have an open case in the Office Of the Inspector General’s in the Department Of Transportation since Jan 2007. I’m not giving up without a fight.

You know what the scary part is about the rebuilding of NO is that Brad Pitt has done more than the government. Go fig!

This should be a wake up call that the government is not going to be able to take care of you in a disaster. My dad always had extra food, water and fuel stored up just in case and we live in an area where we don't have tornados, hurricanes and such. We sometimes get a flood but they are nothing like what happens in other areas.

I have followed my dad's advice and all the siblings in our family have supplies of water, dehydrated food and a game plan should something go wrong. The last thing I want is to depend on my tax dollars to rescue me (being sarcastic there) You can bet that the rich in this town won't suffer but the middle and lower income will. It already happens that way now. How can a town with so much money do so little for our homeless? It really is sad.

I was shocked watching the news during Katrina and just could not believe that in this day and age people were dying in front of our eyes. How come the media could get there yet fema could not? There was an elderly woman sucking on a dry washcloth that was always on the news and it tore me up. I have always wondered what happened to her.

I also have to rant about Nagin. Why didn't he bring in buses and get people out of there before it hit? He was able to bring in buses to get people out to vote when he ran for re-election so where were the buses when they were really needed? I still think he dropped the ball along with the rest of the politicians who are always passing the buck.

My daughter went to school with a girl whos family was moved here and she said she had a bad attitude. Well when I pointed out to her that this girl lost everything, survived a horrible situation, was moved to a completely different area of the country and was dependent on others to survive. I think I would have a bad attitude too. It helped her to see that and they actually became friends. The family has since moved but not sure where.

Ok I am through ranting but at the very least try to be prepared for things that can and will go wrong. Katrina proved we only have ourselves to rely on...Sue

Accomplishments in Two Years Since Katrina Written by geri Thursday, 30 August 2007 The Katrina clean-up efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers in Louisiana have been substantial over the past two years judging by the list of accomplishments released by their field office this month: Almost 6,700 storm-destroyed homes have been demolished and hauled to landfills statewide. 260,000 tires have been recycled. More than 8,000 salt water killed trees have been removed from public right-of-ways, mulched and recycled... (more)


Overall, 58,000 killed trees have been cut up and hauled off, while more than 5 million pieces of hazardous waste have been processed and recycled.

More than 28,500,000 cubic yards of debris, resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the ensuing flood damage have been removed -- enough to fill over ten Empire State Buildings. The debris field was five times that of Hurricane Andrew and the Corp responded with a record team of 1,700 workers in Louisiana alone to clean it up, including handling the removal of 50 million pounds of putrid, rotting meat.

They repaired 81,000 roofs for FEMA and replaced over 300 critical public facilities and schools.

"Lots of people have given their hearts and souls, night and day, working long, long hours for two years," said the deputy director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Louisiana Field Recovery Office and the and as the area engineer for debris operations.
(www.faceofthecorps.com)