Hurricane Katrina 5 Years Later: Signs Of Healing

New York Times:

This city, not that long ago, appeared to be lost. Only five years have passed since corpses were floating through the streets, since hundreds of thousands of survivors sat in hotel rooms and shelters and the homes of relatives, learning from news footage that they were among the ranks of the homeless.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[vulpecula762mm]

01:20 PM on 08/30/2010

Just read this and tell my why I should not hate conservatives and republicans to the point of lunacy?

http://wonkette.com/406018/hilarious-racist-email-gets-gop-official-fired

http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Gilman/

I do hate them so.

[Pansy Sue]

07:22 AM on 08/30/2010

A thoughtful insight and ideas I will use on my website. You\'ve obviously spent a lot of time on this. Thank you!

http://moneysolutions.asia/

[catbite]

08:47 PM on 08/29/2010

I was out of work then, like I am now. I sat in my living room not believing what I was seeing, here in the US. When they announced that busses were coming, I was as anxious as the people at the Superdome. The busses never came, People died, children got sick, people were shot at. Washington was so far removed from the reality of life in poor New Orleans that they didn't think it was necessary to act quickly. Lies then, lies now. I am amazed at the progress in what was a flooded hell.

[Erik Larsen]

11:18 PM on 08/29/2010

What did Nagan do? Where was the local response?

[showme54]

01:36 PM on 08/30/2010

eriklarsen, answers to your questions are available here. http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

[dbmetzger]

02:49 PM on 08/29/2010

Katrina 5 Years Later: Daily Demolitions
The agency in charge of clearing blighted and abandoned properties from La. neighborhoods is still hard at work as the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina arrives. Jason Bronis looks at the effort to deal with the homes no one wants. http://www.newslook.com/videos/244903-katrina-5-years-later-daily-demolitions?autoplay=true

[greenelent]

02:15 PM on 08/29/2010

Photos: New Orleans 5 Years

[geoffstaples]

11:12 AM on 08/29/2010

Glenn Beck and the Republicans are so full of garbage.

As Senator Mary Landrieu said, "Beck says that the private sector should re-build New Orleans. We lost 200,000 homes. The private sector has built 5,000 homes.

[Tom Clements]

09:52 AM on 08/29/2010

Watched Brian Williams "Five days after" and I felt the pain,also realized,that could have been me and my family,low income and rely on public transportation.I would have stayed in the Super Dome.Like the titanic,Who gets on the boat first?Not me.

[2tango]

03:59 PM on 08/28/2010

I never could it understand the the optical point of view of the "White" folks in those states that by history were surviving (making a living) from the workers in plantations and mistreating everyone who wasn't white. How they lived with their conscious..? That in one hand were preaching "love" and with the other hand practicing hate.

"Katrina" was the naked truth and suffering of so many, and the shocking of the outside world that the white america couldn't hide.
p/s i'm a caucasian

[WestCoastftw]

08:53 PM on 08/28/2010

Katrina was a name given to a category five hurricane, look up act of god, act of nature, ect. If that does not match your world view then please present evidence that this was a "racist" storm.

[cbrown1389]

12:52 PM on 08/29/2010

the response was "racist"

[morefreethings]

09:44 PM on 08/28/2010

wow you really are a fool arent you.....there are no americans alive that were slave owners, there are no americans alive that were slaves. Stop trying to inject race where it doesnt belong, unbelievealbe, dont every wonder why america is currently rejecting this admin, its because of people like you

[Hayley Langel]

09:28 AM on 08/29/2010

Oh, ok, race had nothing to do with Katrina victims not receiving immediately care after the storm, and race has nothing to do with the Beck rally that just took place? Denial, you know, that river, you should get out of it. Teabaggers are fighting so hard to avoid saying they are against the current administration because of the color of Obama's skin, lets bring this to light instead of hiding it. Then we can actually tackle the problem.

[jamaicalover]

10:01 AM on 08/29/2010

You are so correct. There are no living slave owners; however their destructive legacy continues passed down through Jim Crow, Instituionalized racism, employment and civil rights.

"don't you ever wonder why america is currently rejecting this adim, its because of people like you"

So people like 2tango who speak the truth are rejected by people like you? But you'll gladly cheer on Glenn Beck who said, "The President has deep-seated hatred for white people, the presiden't he's a racist." And Palin "don't retreat reload" and use the "N" word?

[Frustrated in PA]

02:37 PM on 08/28/2010

I know this may tick a few people off but, to me, Katrina was more horrific than 9/11. I remember watching what was going down during Katrina and feeling helpless, angry and feelings of despair. It lasted far longer than the feelings I had after 9/11 even with family and friends working in Lower Manhattan. Once we knew they were safe, including my brother, we felt relief and the country pulled together in a way not seen in my lifetime. We rallied, we held our heads up and rose to help.

During and after Katrina, we didn't see that. The images are far worse because of the way our country looked like a 3rd world disaster zone. The anger at the Feds, the state of Louisiana, the mayor lasted for months. The devastation that no one seemed to give a da mn what happened in New Orleans. Sure individuals did, but not the government and people were blaming the residents of New Orleans as if it was their fault.

I was put in charge of the Hurrican Katrina relief fund from my office and gathering donations. I remember one secretary told me she would not give one dime because "they brought it on themselves." I almost got fired after telling her off.

It is not fair to compare but I can't help but do just that..........foreign terrorism vs. domestic manmade terrorism.

It is all the same.

[Anne Johnson]

02:48 PM on 08/28/2010

I felt the same way but would slightly disagree with you on one point. You said the images in New Orleans looked like a third world disaster zone. I would argue that it looked worse because the US has always been more than capable of dropping food and supplies to actual third world disaster zones yet couldn't seem to do it in its own backyard.

[doctorj2u]

03:49 PM on 08/28/2010

Thank you so much for caring.

[tanya1111]

02:35 PM on 08/28/2010

Pink makes me itchy...

[Tlaltecuhtli02]

02:32 PM on 08/28/2010

I want to remind you all that in the August of 2005 as Huffpost was struggling to get this new website a happening place, and as Americans wept for New Orleans, that I posted the Army Corps of Engineers was obsolete and that they were to blame. I also said that America herself was sinking and that the American Dream was over. And I told you all to divest your real estate as the market had peaked.

Turns out every statement was true. History revealed that that the Corps relied on obsolete data from 1921 to set levy heights. Dec 2005 was historical market peak. And the dream has ended for much of America.

And in spite of the continued accuracy of my prognostications, and my continued calling to come together in the political center around Obama, I am still the most banned and reviled user here as leftists prepare to s_tab our President in the back in upcoming elections. Remember also that I warned the left about doing that. Beware turning 2 0 1 2 into a political a_pocalypse.

And thanks m0ds for restoring this login. It was like Jesus: on the third day, I rose again. Someone up there likes what I say.

Good luck all.

[Hayley Langel]

12:49 PM on 08/29/2010

Well I'll fan ya

[vulpecula762mm]

01:12 PM on 08/30/2010

You sound like a crazy person but I can live with that.

[SJML]

02:23 PM on 08/28/2010

If you haven't seen Rachel Maddow's show from last night you should. It was a wonderful history lesson regarding the wet lands. I was impressed again, as always, how deep she and her staff dig into how things got to where they are today.

[1000000 Fans]

02:23 PM on 08/28/2010

Thanks to republicans we don't have any money left to repair our crumbling infrastructure.

[Hoodoo X]

02:19 PM on 08/28/2010

Aretha
"Highway of Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DADFDtIBjT4

[tanya1111]

02:36 PM on 08/28/2010

nice hoodooX

[Katerbee]

02:17 PM on 08/28/2010

I recall five years ago, sitting in horror and despair watching the utter devastation on television and the internet. I salute the people of New Orleans; and all those who helped and gave aid, for their resolve and dedication.

[NewYorker1978]

02:23 PM on 08/28/2010

Like 9/11, it was one of those moments you remember where you were when you first got wind of what was happening. One exchange I remember was Bill O'Reilly telling Shepard Smith, who was in New Orleans, that what the city needed was leadership. Smith responded by saying the people needed food and water. Smith got it right.

[Katerbee]

02:31 PM on 08/28/2010

Agreed, both events left an indelible impression on me...Those tragic moments are crystalized in our memories with a precision that we can recall them in detail as if they were yesterday...They mark us for life.