LONDON -- The fifth anniversary of the flooding of New Orleans occurs at the end of this month, and the Times-Picayune takes the occasion to print thank-you notes from some New Orleanians to those who've helped them. Moving and emotional stories are recounted in these notes.
Behind the emotions, of course, are facts. We know now what we didn't know Aug. 29, 2005 -- precisely why the city flooded, why these people were put in such peril. It was not the same thing that happened to people on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, whose homes were hammered that day by the winds of Hurricane Katrina. If this story is new to you, the eminent scientists who led the two independent investigations of the flooding are two of the main personalities in The Big Uneasy, my documentary film about the event and its aftermath. End of plug.
Those facts are known, and knowable. Astonishingly, other facts are not known. Like: how many of the evacuees who were bused, helicoptered, or otherwise transported away from danger during that week in 2005 are happy in their new locales and how many want to come back home? According to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center's Allison Plyer, we don't know, and we don't have a way of knowing. Not that that would be an important datum in assessing the recovery.
We're left with Barbara Bush's assertion that the folks gathered in the Astrodome were better off, or with my friend who works for the housing department in New Orleans telling me that "my phone rings off the hook every day with people wanting to come home." Anecdotes must suffice, because facts, besides being stubborn things, appear to be expensive things as well.
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Law & Disorder - The Worst of Times
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pretty shocking stuff and why it's even more important to see the Big Uneasy
Before Kathrina, she wouldn't even take a vacation outside of Louisiana.
We live and learn
The problem is with the levees. The levees failed due to poor design and construction - things New Orleans and Louisiana do not control. When they failed, 80% of the homes went under water and stayed there for weeks to months. Everything we owned was lost. We lost our jobs, our businesses, our emloyees, our customers, our churches, our neighbors, our friends...some of us lost our country.
Without much help, we have worked to rebuild our City and our lives. But, we are far from whole. The levees -owned not by us, but by the United States - are still fragile and precarious. No amount of evacuation or stockpiling or anything else will be of any value if the levees are not improved. To improve the levees, the owner must accept that they are flawed. Thus far, the owner seems more interested in finding flaws in the people the levees are supposed to protect.
"Calamity Knows no Borders,only men's Minds and Maps do."..
As one who didnt get out till Sept 16th,..I saw many things that were almost Mythical in Heroics,and will never be told to the masses. The Humanity..the caring,the above and beyond efforts that many performed for days straight.
To those who wish us well,we thank you,,and to those who dont..well,may calamity never find your Zip Code,but when it does...
May God Look over you.
Who Dat brother in NOLA
My guess, those with money bought up ruined neighborhoods for pennies and are now making more money from tragedy. Thank gawd some of you are still fighting the righteous fight!
For those who have been critical of New Orleanians, for living in an area, supposedly, subject to ONLY nature's wrath, this reminder in the August 9th issue of Time magazine concerning the true reality we face in the US.
In July, two dam breaks, one in Arizona's Tempe Town Lake, and the other at Iowa's Lake Delhi, show how our crumbling infrastructure is far more worrisome than most threats from our convenient scapegoat, Mother Nature.
The Lake Delhi dam collapse flooded hundreds of homes and farms (why would anyone live near a dam?), and caused millions of dollars in damages.
According to this Time article, our infrastructure, from dams to highways, bridges and sewers (why would anyone drive on a highway, with 50,000 auto accidents a year, cross a bridge or trust a sewer system), are in need of a 2.2 trillion dollar upgrade.
Our ports and transportation systems are falling behind those of other upcoming nations, and yet we keep arguing over the need for the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%, and funneling hundreds of billions of dollars down the rabbit hole called Iraq/Afghanistan.
It's time to bring those dollars home, and put our unemployed to work rebuilding our infrastructure.
What better palce to begin that rebuilding, than New Orleans?
It's been a privilege posting with you, Harry, and I can't wait to see "The Big Uneasy."
I still drive by abandoned homes with markings on the door but there has been a great deal of progress rebuilding and redesigning.
Hope that answered some of your questions. As to how plans were decided on, not a 100% sure but I think the local government uses a magic 8 ball. I love the city but the local government drives me nuts.
If I was born cynical ..
I would think Washington cares more about Pakistan than the lower 9th.
I don't see Hillary personally delivering billions to the effected parishes , as she gleefully did to the PakiMilitary last week.
I
" Search and rescue operations alone saved 24,135 lives from imminent danger, usually off the roofs of the victims’ homes as flood waters lapped at their feet. Coast Guardsmen “evacuated to safety” 9,409 patients from local hospitals. In total, 33,545 souls owed their lives to the men and women of the nation’s oldest continuous-going sea service, nearly equaling the number of persons the Coast Guard saves during a calendar year. "
http://www.uscg.mil/History/katrina/karthistory.asp
But now here's my cynical side -- maybe N.O. would rate more attention if they had the bomb.
Thanks so much.
Garth