Katrina's latest damage

[Guest SavageRulz]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11677333/site/newsweek/

 

March 13, 2006 issue - In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Houston earned a loving moniker among many of the evacuees who sought refuge there: the Big Heart. This, after all, was the city that housed, fed and mended more than 150,000 survivors in a herculean effort that won national acclaim. Houston officials mounted what is believed to be the biggest shelter operation in the country's history, including MASH-like megaclinics that took on problems ranging from emergency care to eyeglass prescriptions. Then, just as quickly, officials disbanded those facilities to usher evacuees into more-permanent housing, offering them generous vouchers that covered rent and utilities for a year. "No other city really provided the resources and assistance Houston has," says Angelo Edwards, vice chair of the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association. "If not for Mayor [bill] White and his administration, a lot of us would've been lost."

 

But six months after the evacuees arrived, the city's heart seems to be hardening. The signs of a backlash are sometimes subtle. "You'll hear little snide remarks," says Edwards. "People will say, 'The reason you can't get a job is because you can't talk right'." Other times, the reaction is more venomous. Among the nasty examples Dorothy Stukes, an evacuee, cites: graffiti blaring F--- NEW ORLEANS in her apartment complex, schoolkids taunting her grandchildren to "swim in that Katrina water and die" and shopkeepers muttering about survivors' sucking the public coffers dry. Stukes, chair of the ACORN KSA, has become so concerned that when New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin came to town recently, she begged him to hire a public-relations firm to repair the evacuees' image. But given all that Nagin has to contend with amid his own run for re-election, that is not likely to land high on his list.

 

Katrina continues to be a destructive force. The Bush administration found itself engulfed once again last week, after the release of some footage of the president at an August video briefing on the hurricane. The tape revived discussion of some of Bush's darkest days, when he seemed either uninformed or unable to respond to a national disaster unfolding on TV. But the tape wasn't the only thing fueling Katrina's return to the news. Stoked by congressional investigators, new details have emerged about the government failures that left so many people in mortal danger. Late last week retired Marine Corps Brigadier Gen. Matthew Broderick resigned his post as Homeland Security's operations chief amid accumulating evidence that the command post he directed as Katrina hit misjudged the early damage to New Orleans. (Homeland Security said Broderick left to "spend more time with his family.")

 

Yet as devastating as Katrina has been for the administration, its impact has been far more visceral in those communities that received tens of thousands of evacuees overnight. In cities stretching from Atlanta to San Antonio, good will has often given way to the crude reality of absorbing a traumatized and sometimes destitute population. In Baton Rouge, which added 100,000 people to a pre-Katrina population of 225,000, residents bemoan the loss of the city's small-town feel and worry that trailer-park settlements will become permanent fixtures of blight. In Dallas, the city housing authority began offering rent vouchers to some of its 20,000 evacuees, only to become quickly overwhelmed and fail to pay landlords, prompting a number of eviction notices.

 

But perhaps no city has been as convulsed as Houston, which took in the greatest number of survivors. As some see it, the city is suffering from "compassion fatigue." Public services are overwhelmed, city finances are strained and violent crime is on the rise. When city leaders in New Orleans made comments two weeks ago suggesting that they wanted only hardworking evacuees to return, some Houston city-council members erupted in protest—fearing that politicians in the Big Easy were trying to stick Houston with their undesirables. "We extended an open hand to all kinds of people," says Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. "If they want to return home, it's their right." And if they want to stay, she adds, they "need to stand up, get on their feet and get jobs."

[Dobbs 3K 0]

If you still don't have a job or haven't moved back nearly six months after this disaster, something's wrong.

[Guest SavageRulz]

If you still don't have a job or haven't moved back nearly six months after this disaster, something's wrong.

 

There just aren't very many jobs to move back to in the GNO area.

[Art Sandusky 0]

And there aren't many cities that can absorb that many people all at once anyway. The idea of these people "getting on their feet and getting jobs" is unbeliveably short-sighted and shows that this country STILL hasn't wrapped its head around the magnitude of what happened, why it happened, and all of the new variables it created.

 

A fucking major American city effectively ceased to exist, and those affected by this most were the people who were living day-to-day as it was. What meager lives they were able to eke out were completely wiped away, as well as their personal records and jobs. Since so few of them had more than basic education, a lot of jobs are unavailable right off the bat also.

 

It's no surprise we can't make any progress with Africa (as we were arguing in another thread) when we can't even be understanding of our own citizens.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Well, New Orleans is currently rebuilding, and rebuilding housing and other building using federal funding (something no other devastated American city has ever required before, by the way...). There is a lot of work to be done, and these people could be moving back to set up again. Otherwise, they'll have to find work elsewhere. They should have decided at this point what course of action they're going to take...move back to NO and help re-build, or start a new life elsewhere. It's not exactly an ambiguous decision.

[EricMM 0]

Obviously they DID decide, they decided to stay in Houston.

 

Much to the chagrin of the native Houstonians (?) who see demand for jobs, housing, and everything else skyrocketing.

 

Thing is, Kotz is right. There is no buffer. There's no where, certainly in that area, that can absorb all these people.

 

And you speak of New Orleans now? It's not rebuilt, and I would mock any attempts to rebuild it, at least the way it was. It's going to get hit again.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I guess my point is, the US is not a social welfare nation. If they want to stay in the Houston area, fine, but don't expect constant hand outs and free or subsidized housing. Houston is a big city and I'm sure they can find jobs if they want to.

[NoCalMike 0]

They can't move back when a lot of them owned 50 year old houses no bigger then a shack, and now will be expected to buy brand new track houses at current market value. It is basically impossible unless they want to sign up for a lifetime of debt.

 

The rebuilding of New Orleans is very calculated, and the last thing being taken into consideration here is returning the poor to the city.

 

Also another shitty thing about this is, none of these folks are going to be able to vote. I just don't get how American set up satellite stations for Iraqis in America to vote in the Iraqi election, but they won't do the same for the Katrina survivors that were displaced. Instead they can send away for a package for "further information"

[EricMM 0]

Well, I3k, that begs the point.

 

To what measure is the US responsible for assisting the survivors of Katrina? Is it none? Little? More or less than 9/11? Because this was a much much MUCH worse cataclysm locally than 9/11 was.

 

It's like Kotz said, there are no jobs there anymore, because there is still very little "there" there. Some parts were cleaned up for Fat Tuesday, but make no mistake, New Orleans won't be rebuilt for years.

[Perfxion 0]

They are just NOW in the demo stages of the areas hit, but it is VERY slow because they are STILL finding dead bodies in the mess. Army Core of Engineers dried out the city and they are still repairing all of the inner city levies. So, unless someone has an engineering degree or wishes to work free of charge with the Red Cross, what the fuck is a bus driver or a Superdome Concession stand worker going to do?

 

Another failed point by you: Where do you go? If they go back, where are they going to live? There is limited housing. Limited shops, apartments and projects are gone, trailer parks are somewhere in the Gulf. There is no place to live. The only way is to displace them around the entire country. If someone lived in New Orleans, I doubt that they will love having to move to the colder and much more expensive northeast.

 

If they stay in Houston, what jobs? All bus drivers are completely screwed, Houston has enough of those. The only people able to work fast are teachers, firefighters, police, ect. The rest do not have much hope.

 

BTW: The 9th Ward has to be one of the worst areas on the poverty scale. Katrina took what little these people have and now they have nothing. Middle class people on the internet do not have any scope as to what living poor is. There homes where hit the worst. Some have no money, no home, and no work experience. Yet this country is supposed to just let them die? How can we not have any “social welfare” when over 2 million people are not in the position to jump up and continue on with life as if Katrina was only a tropical storm that did nothing in the late 90s.

[Guest SavageRulz]

And there aren't many cities that can absorb that many people all at once anyway. The idea of these people "getting on their feet and getting jobs" is unbeliveably short-sighted and shows that this country STILL hasn't wrapped its head around the magnitude of what happened, why it happened, and all of the new variables it created.

 

A fucking major American city effectively ceased to exist, and those affected by this most were the people who were living day-to-day as it was. What meager lives they were able to eke out were completely wiped away, as well as their personal records and jobs. Since so few of them had more than basic education, a lot of jobs are unavailable right off the bat also.

 

It's no surprise we can't make any progress with Africa (as we were arguing in another thread) when we can't even be understanding of our own citizens.

 

I guess I missed that thread....What business is Africa of ours? Is Africa really still considered "white man's burden"? That's sure what I infer from your comment.

[Perfxion 0]

So the entire world stripped it of its people and resources and now that the shit has been hitting the fan it is not the rest of the world's problem? zuh?

[Art Sandusky 0]

I guess I missed that thread....What business is Africa of ours? Is Africa really still considered "white man's burden"? That's sure what I infer from your comment.

We were arguing whether Europeans made the continent better or worse through their colonizing during the 19th century, and thinking of ways to improve the place.

 

And yes, it is the responsibility of those who made the mess to clean it up.

[dh86 0]

They can't move back when a lot of them owned 50 year old houses no bigger then a shack, and now will be expected to buy brand new track houses at current market value. It is basically impossible unless they want to sign up for a lifetime of debt.

 

The rebuilding of New Orleans is very calculated, and the last thing being taken into consideration here is returning the poor to the city.

 

Also another shitty thing about this is, none of these folks are going to be able to vote. I just don't get how American set up satellite stations for Iraqis in America to vote in the Iraqi election, but they won't do the same for the Katrina survivors that were displaced. Instead they can send away for a package for "further information"

 

complete truth^^

[Guest SavageRulz]

Slavery still goes on in Africa. Lots of Arabic/Muslim nations trade, and so do other African nations.

 

Much of the New Orleans crowd is just bad news.

[Art Sandusky 0]

When the only people left in the city were criminals, extremely poor people, and general bottom-feeders, that's what you're going to get in terms of survivors. That's why they were ferried in trucks and shit while the well-to-do were chartering buses for their pets.

[SuperJerk 0]

Well, New Orleans is currently rebuilding, and rebuilding housing and other building using federal funding (something no other devastated American city has ever required before, by the way...).

HUH?

[Art Sandusky 0]

I don't even see what makes getting federal funding so horrible. Do we need to start posting pictures of what the city looked like when the floodwaters were at their peak? This was no run-of-the-mill disaster.

[NoCalMike 0]

Too many people think that just because Katrina isn't headline news anymore, that New Orleans is now back to normal.

[EricMM 0]

Does anyone think that it would be a good idea to try and build a new city someplace else, using money that would go to rebuild NO?

 

I mean I'm really sorry, but I don't expect my home town of Silver Spring, MD, right outside DC, to ever be washed away in this fashion.

 

If we don't learn anything off of this, that will be a HUGE mistake.

[Paul Stanley 0]

Get out of Houston you moochers.

[NoCalMike 0]

Does anyone think that it would be a good idea to try and build a new city someplace else, using money that would go to rebuild NO?

 

I mean I'm really sorry, but I don't expect my home town of Silver Spring, MD, right outside DC, to ever be washed away in this fashion.

 

If we don't learn anything off of this, that will be a HUGE mistake.

 

 

I was born in Silver Spring, MD.

[Art Sandusky 0]

If we don't learn anything off of this, that will be a HUGE mistake.

After an extremely heated argument I had with a bunch of people at a party last night, I can tell you no one learned a damn thing.

[Karc 0]

You'd think that after people tried to wipe out New York years ago there'd be some sort of backup plan for a large city that gets hit by a hurricane every fucking year.

 

Seriously, what if Los Angeles gets crushed underfoot by a huge earthquake? If the government treated 2 million people this badly, I'd hate to see what happens to 7 million.

 

This is why I have a problem with our international affairs. This country needs to get its own house in order before it starts invading others.

[2GOLD 0]

You'd think that after people tried to wipe out New York years ago there'd be some sort of backup plan for a large city that gets hit by a hurricane every fucking year.

 

Seriously, what if Los Angeles gets crushed underfoot by a huge earthquake? If the government treated 2 million people this badly, I'd hate to see what happens to 7 million.

 

I'm pretty sure an earthquake so big that it crushed LA would take care of most of them for us.

Hurricane we can predict with reasonable accuracy. Earthquake, yeah that still catches us a touch off guard.

 

And honestly, what the fuck were we supposed to do with two million people? Whole country is already an overpopulation nightmare. Shoulda sent them to Canada, lots of open land. Or Mexico, Mexico is nice and clear. Cause that is the only way we can absorb losing an entire city in this country. You gotta get em the hell out of the country or drop em in an open field area.

 

But into another major city? That plan is just plain stupid. We'd been better off just building a new town in the middle of nowhere than this like someone already said.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Obviously they DID decide, they decided to stay in Houston.

 

Much to the chagrin of the native Houstonians (?) who see demand for jobs, housing, and everything else skyrocketing.

 

And you speak of New Orleans now? It's not rebuilt, and I would mock any attempts to rebuild it, at least the way it was. It's going to get hit again.

 

Eric, I'm with you on this. It is silly to rebuild NO

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Also another shitty thing about this is, none of these folks are going to be able to vote. I just don't get how American set up satellite stations for Iraqis in America to vote in the Iraqi election, but they won't do the same for the Katrina survivors that were displaced. Instead they can send away for a package for "further information"

 

Not true at all. We're busting our asses here at the Voting Rights Section to ensure they have the ability to vote. Sadly, we're a bureaucrary and there's like 50 of us. And we have a mammoth caseload of lawsuits going out.

 

One reason why we cant do much is the damn person in charge of elections in NO just got arrested.

 

Just pointing out the facts here

[Stephen Joseph 0]

BTW: The 9th Ward has to be one of the worst areas on the poverty scale. Katrina took what little these people have and now they have nothing. Middle class people on the internet do not have any scope as to what living poor is. There homes where hit the worst. Some have no money, no home, and no work experience. Yet this country is supposed to just let them die? How can we not have any “social welfare” when over 2 million people are not in the position to jump up and continue on with life as if Katrina was only a tropical storm that did nothing in the late 90s.

 

Blame the inept local and corrupt government they kept in power.