Devastation, Debris, and ReDevelopment: Renewing the Gulf Community after the Hurricanes

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Devastation, Debris, and Re-Development
Renewing the Gulf Community after the Hurricanes

• MU J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Teach-In
• November 2005

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GEOGRAPHY

• Eroding Louisiana Coastline, Swamps
• 1 million in Metro N.O.
• City of ridges (wealthy) and depressions (poor)
• Federal housing
• Fed. Highways and suburban sprawl into swamps

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SOCIAL CONDITIONS1. Poverty

• Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama rank among lowest
  in health, poverty rate, education quality.
• N.O.s poverty rate around 28, more than twice
  the national rate. (Milwaukee is worse)
• 90s Boom wasnt felt in N.O.
• Outflow of people, money
• Endemic education and health crises in LA.

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2. Race

• 31.5 of Louisiana is (was) African-American, but
  69 of Louisianas children living in poverty are
  African-American.
• 100 of N.O. public housing residents are
  African-American.
• In N.O. and Biloxi, the percentage of households
  of color with no car was twice that of white
  households.

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TIMELINE

• Aug. 25thKatrina becomes a hurricane in FL
• Aug. 26thKatrina become a Cat. 2 in the Gulf.
• Aug. 27thEmergencies declared, voluntary
  evacuation
• issued by Mayor Nagin.
• Aug. 28thKatrina become a Cat. 5. Mayor Nagin
• issues 1st ever mandatory evacuation of
  New Orleans
• Aug. 29thKatrina hits Louisiana and Mississippi.
• est. 80,000 people still in New
  Orleans.

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THE BIG ONE

• Worst hurricane year on record
• 145 mph winds
• 25 foot storm surge
• Storm covered 90, 000 square miles
• Over 1 million people fled their homes in the
  region immediately.

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THE RESPONSE

• AUG. 30thLevee failed overnight. FEMA issues
  request for national guard with 2-day leeway
  period.
• AUG. 31st3,000 stranded with nada at Conv.Ctr
  Tens of thousands stuck in Superdome
• SEPT 1Mayor Nagin issues an angry S.O.S. to Feds
  as law and order fails.
• SEPT. 2Evacuees get to Houston shelters. Bush
  makes first visit to Gulf region.
• SEPT. 4U.S.S. Bataan continutes to sit in Gulf
  waiting for orders.

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THEMES OF RESPONSE Evacuation

• P.A.M. exercise went unheeded.
• Slow response from FEMA for busses
• Mayors legal tightrope between evacuation and
  hotel lawsuits.
• Evacuees affecting cities like Baton Rouge,
  Houston, etc.

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Authority

• Browns incompetence and Problem of FEMA under
  Homeland Security
• Post-9/11 studies not heeded
• Blancos responses unheeded by White House
• LA and N.O. out of sync

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Race and the Media

• Selective images
• Looters vs. Finders
• Kanye West
• Refugees
• Barbara Bushs comment
• Slow response attributed by blacks to racism

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Security

• 1200 N.O. police officers accounted for. 500
  not.
• No power or communications.
• National Guard very late.
• Law and order
• vs.
• rescue missions

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Assistance

• FEMA promises 5 billion in trailers for Katrina
  homeless on Sept. 9th.
• Brown resigns on Sept. 12th.
• FEMA assistance slow. Red Cross and Catholic
  Charities try to fill the gap that tax-funded
  agencies left wide open.
• Homeowners vs. Flood insurance
• Insurance companies going bankrupt

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EFFECTS ON SOCIETY/INFRASTRUCTURE

• 228,000 occupied housing unites were flooded (45
  of metro N.O. area).
• 58 of flooded areas were minority neighborhoods,
  which are 45 of metro area.
• In N.O., 80 of flooded areas were non-white.
• 38 of 49 extreme poverty census tracts were
  flooded, all in N.O.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

• Unwatering
• Power
• Natural gas
• Insect/Rodents/Animals
• Gasoline
• Food safety
• Drinking water
• Wastewater
• Roads

• Solid waste/debris
• Soil contamination/toxics
• Housing
• Communications

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CLEANUP AND REBUILDINGSome long-term issues

• Pumping stations and levees, otherwise, why
  resettle in New Orleans?
• Health facilities, mental health resources,
  security, resources to fuel the recovery.
• Local involvement and government collaboration.
• Communicating with displaced population
• 438, 000 made jobless from Katrina.
• Housing, housing, housing.

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D.C.s APPROACH

• Sept. 8th. Bush lifted the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act,
  which requires federal contractors to pay at
  least the average regional wage. Brought back
  in late October.
• Congress allocated 62 billion for evacuees and
  cleanup. LA requested another 250 billion in
  incentives and funds to fuel private investment
  and business activity.
• Bush agreed to the 1.6 billion for the Army Corps
  of Engineers to rebuild levees for Cat. 3, but it
  will cost another 5 billion to protect from a
  Category 5 hurricane.
• Bushs 3 proposals An Urban Homestead Act,
  Worker Recovery Accounts, and a Gulf Opportunity
  Zone.
• Congress considered cutting social services (food
  stamps) to reconstruct Katrina. Budget is an
  ongoing debate.

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HOW TO REBUILD???

• Restore the delta and coast
• Improve transit access for all residents
• Mixed housing developments, low-income tax
  credits, housing vouchers, zoning, so as to avoid
  old enclaves of poverty.
• Rebuild universities and schools to fuel
  redevelopment of talent
• Make rebuilding process transparent and just, so
  that locals instead of government cronies decide
  the process and get jobs and contracts.
• New Homestead Act Wheres the land? Who will
  pay to build?
• Force oil profiteers to cleanup mess
• Eminent domain rights for returning residents
  V.S. bulldozing 9th Ward.

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BROAD ISSUES AT HAND

• Be systematic and prevent future disaster
• Deregulation (organic) or Regulation
  (planned) re-development?
• Federal budget tug-o-war
• War VS. Social services VS. Gulf
  reconstruction

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WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

• Donate to relief orgs.
• Volunteer to help clean debris, or rebuild
  community w/ return residents
• Advocate for a fair
• re-development policies and process.