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Three months after the Katrina disaster: New Orleans left for dead
An editorial last Sunday in the New York Times, headlined “Death of an American City,” begins, “We are about to lose New Orleans.” It goes on to state that “the moment is upon us when a major American city will die, leaving nothing but a few shells for tourists to visit like a museum.”
Adding that this major American city “is in complete shambles”—and that the government plan for reconstruction is “a rudderless ship”—the Times states what is, in fact, a brutal reality.
The Times makes the correct point that without reassurances that the failed levee system will be reconstructed to protect the city against future deadly storms, residents and business owners will not be willing to make a commitment to return and rebuild their city and their lives. In fact, authorities have done nothing to provide any such guarantee, an ominous indication that New Orleans is being abandoned and left to die.
Some 100 days after Hurricane Katrina hit land on August 29, at least 80 percent of New Orleans residents have not returned. The city’s infrastructure is in ruins. Only 50 percent of homes still standing have gas service. Best estimates are that only half have electricity. City buses are operating at 10 percent.
Before the Katrina disaster, 55,000 students attended 116 public schools in New Orleans. Today, just one has reopened. While five more schools are scheduled to open this month, only 4,000 students are registered for them. When Tulane University reopens January 17 it will be with 230 fewer faculty, as the prestigious institution copes with lost revenues and budget cuts totaling about $100 million.
Thousands of hurricane evacuees remain scattered across the US. Some 40,000 families are still living in trailers. Where trailers are desperately needed by returning Louisiana residents trying to rebuild their homes and their lives, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided only 8,780, according to FEMA’s own figures. In another demonstration of bureaucratic ineptitude and indifference, thousands of available trailers stored nearby have not been delivered, the supplier awaiting payment from FEMA.
In devastated working class neighborhoods, like New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and nearby St. Bernard Parish, those who have returned face environmental hazards from toxic waste, spotty utility coverage and a lack of temporary housing. “Why couldn’t they put some mobile trailers right there where people could live at?” asked Upper Ninth Ward resident Alvin Cambric, interviewed by the NewStandard. Cambric’s situation is typical. He is currently living in the front room of his storm-ravaged house, with no electricity, surviving on donated canned food.
Read More
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/newo-d14.shtml
The Times makes the correct point that without reassurances that the failed levee system will be reconstructed to protect the city against future deadly storms, residents and business owners will not be willing to make a commitment to return and rebuild their city and their lives. In fact, authorities have done nothing to provide any such guarantee, an ominous indication that New Orleans is being abandoned and left to die.
Some 100 days after Hurricane Katrina hit land on August 29, at least 80 percent of New Orleans residents have not returned. The city’s infrastructure is in ruins. Only 50 percent of homes still standing have gas service. Best estimates are that only half have electricity. City buses are operating at 10 percent.
Before the Katrina disaster, 55,000 students attended 116 public schools in New Orleans. Today, just one has reopened. While five more schools are scheduled to open this month, only 4,000 students are registered for them. When Tulane University reopens January 17 it will be with 230 fewer faculty, as the prestigious institution copes with lost revenues and budget cuts totaling about $100 million.
Thousands of hurricane evacuees remain scattered across the US. Some 40,000 families are still living in trailers. Where trailers are desperately needed by returning Louisiana residents trying to rebuild their homes and their lives, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided only 8,780, according to FEMA’s own figures. In another demonstration of bureaucratic ineptitude and indifference, thousands of available trailers stored nearby have not been delivered, the supplier awaiting payment from FEMA.
In devastated working class neighborhoods, like New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and nearby St. Bernard Parish, those who have returned face environmental hazards from toxic waste, spotty utility coverage and a lack of temporary housing. “Why couldn’t they put some mobile trailers right there where people could live at?” asked Upper Ninth Ward resident Alvin Cambric, interviewed by the NewStandard. Cambric’s situation is typical. He is currently living in the front room of his storm-ravaged house, with no electricity, surviving on donated canned food.
Read More
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/newo-d14.shtml
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