On the Gulf Coast, It's Always August 29th

While I'm generally and somewhat notoriously bad at remembering what happened when, tomorrow, August 29th, sticks in my head both because (a) it's my birthday (!), and (b) it's the day when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, in both Louisiana and Mississippi, two years ago. Just after the storm in 2005, I made my way down to the New Orleans area to do some reporting on how the region was coping with the storm. This past April, I went back to the Big Easy to see with my own eyes how life was progressing some 20 months after the storm blew through.

Or maybe more accurately, how life is not progressing at all. Tomorrow, I'll be a year older and we'll all move on to August 30, then August 31, and into the excitement of early fall. But in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast, time doesn't move ahead at the same natural pace. There, it's always August 2005.

Driving through New Orleans East on my first trip about a month after Katrina made landfall, I screeched my rental car to a halt when I came upon the Sheralane Dog Grooming Shop on Downman Road. I had spent days and days taking in human misery, but the signs spray-painted on the side of the shop -- "Dead Dog Left in Crate" and "Dead Dog STILL" in bright orange safety paint -- made the bottom of my stomach drop. Human pain on the scale of Katrina was too much to process. Animal suffering was removed enough from my experience to be visceral, and horrifying.

Returning to New Orleans this past April, one of my first stops was, yes, the Sheralane Dog Grooming Shop in New Orleans East. Here we were, more than a year and a half later, and almost nothing had changed. The shop was still boarded up in the same way. The only concession to the passage of time? "Dead Dog Left in Crate" had been gone over in white paint, and "Dead Dog STILL" had been scrubbed from the front door.

Of course, Sheralane Dog Grooming is little more than a stand-in for the stagnation that persists in New Orleans. Throughout the city, from New Orleans East to the Lower Ninth Ward, from Lakeview to Chalmette, houses are empty, street lights are out, cars are abandoned, schools stand as they did the day that the flood waters washed in and washed out.

Just down the road from the Sheralane shop this past April, I happened upon an empty building that a sign told me was once the Barbara C. Jordan School, named the former congresswoman from Texas. As I drove slowly by, I noticed that, while I was the only sign of human life for what seemed like miles, the door of the school was propped open.

As I stepped into what must have been a bustling school at some point, I decided that I must have been the first person to have set foot in the space for months and months. Someone must have been here at some point after the storm -- desks had been piled haphazardly out in the courtyard, but it sure looked like no one had been here for quite a long time.

Classroom floors were still caked with mud, chairs overturned, and a single globe sat in the middle of one room. At the risk of excessively anthropomorphizing a globe, it looked for all the world like it was lonely, waiting for some students to come back and give it a spin. But some 20 months after Hurricane Katrina hit, in April of 2007 those kids were nowhere in sight. They were in an apartment in Houston or a trailer park in Baton Rouge or a house in some abandoned part of New Orleans East.

There are a million reasons why life on the Gulf Coast remains battered and broken in the same way it was just after Katrina hit. Politics, policy, poverty, poor planning. A governing philosophy that rejects government. A governing practice that gambles on the big problems happening under someone else's watch and on someone else's dime. And the truth is, we could let this city, this Gulf Coast, fall into the dustbin of history and the responsibility for it would be spread so far and wide to make blame more or less meaningless.

We could get away with abandoning New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. And that's why what becomes of the region defines who we are, if anybody, as a people. Life goes on in the rest of the United States. It hasn't on the Gulf Coast.

Are we perfectly comfortable moving on to August 30th, when New Orleans sits stuck on the 29th?

Comments

[Janelynne]

August 29th is George's photo op. Smile for the cameras, hold a moment of silence, to mark two years of silence. Say glorified things, blame others, make insincere promises. Then get back on the plane, wave, and get back to what is important: the high rollers with the big money. Give them the comps.

[QuestionReality]

When my new husband and son moved here this year, I was horrified to see how this beautiful area is still destroyed, to hear how although many claims have now been approved and "benefits have been assigned", checks have yet to be cut.

Oh, and let's not forget all the people who can't afford not to live in the toxic FEMA trailers on their lawns or in lots still as they try to fix their homes up themselves with the pennies left over from their paychecks each week.

We have the highest murder rate in the country (no surprise given the stress levels of the citizens here). And arguably the most corrupt system... no matter WHAT system you're talking about ("justice", politics, whatever). It seems like the only people left here are of one of two types: (1)those who couldn't afford to leave and (2)those who won't be run off.

I am here with a different agenda. I came because I love this city. I love this culture. I will not let it be overlooked. I will not let it die!

I am here because I want to help build a better, stronger, NOLA. One who will treat all of her residents with respect and compassion. One who will address the real issues of the city. One who will root out the corruption that has been a part of this city for decades. One who will stand up with me and say, "We have been devastated, utterly destroyed. But, in devastation, there is equality. So, let us join hands, help each other up and move forward and upward together!"

I urge all of you to take Indiana's advice... forward those news outlet websites, and any others you know, to EVERYONE YOU KNOW. Even if they don't have any ties to NOLA. Because the true tragedy is that we continue to be held back BY OUR OWN GOVT in our efforts to move on. And the next tragedy could be at your front door.

[LoriAnn]

I watched GW make his little talk this morning... all about the great new schools that NO has to offer and ask God to step in and fix things ...again!! I think Gods to-do list is getting awfully long where GW is concerned. My sister was just in NO doing humanitarian work and she was shocked and appalled at what she saw and was warned of avoiding (eye contact..etc.). What I would like to see is the media showing what kind of security detail the Tsar brought with him to keep him from becoming another statistic. I think that would speak volumes as well as some real interviews with real people who are still suffering greatly. I think the sweeping destruction is for the most part untouched and not because of abscence of the citizens heart and work ethic.

[bushlies]

Today, much to my increasing sorrow, is my birthday, too. Now,it will be forever tied to that horrible day in New Orleans, a city I have visited often and have always loved.

There's nothing I can do about getting older, but I cannot understand WHY this city and the surrounding area continue to be ignored by this criminal administration while their allies, the bloodsucking insurance companies, refuse to pay claims and charge such exorbitant fees that most people, black, white or whatever (and that includes Mississippi Repugs) can't even think about rebuilding.

I am retired and living in Florida. If the "big one" hits us next time, I guess my husband will be right: "We won't get jacks**t from the insurance companies or anyone else!" Fortunately, we MAY be able to rebuild, but what about the poor or even middle class folks who are living paycheck to paycheck as it is?

[littleblackcat]

It seems to me that one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, problems is money. Its mis-use and theft will take up a whole page so I won't bother with that aspect. These people in the 9th ward, making probably about $8,000-9,000 per year, haven't got a hope in hell of paying $80,000 for a house to replace the one they lost that probably cost $1,000 40 years ago. Anyone over 60 knows how home prices have gone up to ridiculous levels in the last 40 years. The American drem is dead for most of the people in this country. The current foreclosure problem is due in enormous part to the cost of the houses themselves. This escalation has torn apart families and caused much pain in many areas because two wage earners nowadays are a MUST just to pay for shelter. The country has gone crazy. The people of New Orleans or anywhere else on the gulf coast are simply not able to afford the "replacement housing" that is going to be no better than the tiny houses they used to have. Building codes be damned, homes are NOT better built than they were years back, and even if they were, the people still cannot afford them. We need to come up with an answer to the problem of affordability. If bushit has so damned many billions to spend in Iraq, why in hell can't he find 10-12 billion to rebuild the levees and the homes of those displaced and GIVE those people back their homes? They didn't ask Katrina to wipe away their lives. We have billions of dollars to give to everyone else on earth and not a dime to our own. It is time to dismantle this country and set up several smaller nations that know how to take care of their own FIRST, and then help anyone else who needs help with the surplus.

[Janelynne]

Ikky, I couldn't agree more. NO is written off, the NO people are unimportant. Bush doesn't care about America, and the media turn a blind eye to protect him. What happened to NO is bellweather to what can happen to any city, any group of people, just like what has happened to children's healthcare and education, or with Bush's ignoring the gear for first responders or troops the in Iraq. These are not the people in George Bush's America; Bush's "America" is comprised of his hnad picked high rollers.

[ikkytito]

2 years later and NO is still a mess. It's a national disgrace. What no resources to clean up that mess. Or are they fighting over ownership of the land before anything happens? There is plenty of money for killing people and destroying property in Iraq. But not to clean up a mess right here in America? BTW who owns all that property?

[amcclellan]

Nancy, Excellent post!
Indiana, I agree completely. Wouldn't it be awesome if the media reported so often and so broadly concerning the plight of those on the gulf coast that it would be an emabarrassment to our government that could not be ignored? Wouldn't it be great if they reported with more dedication on this poor and horrible situation than they did on the Lewinsky mess? I know that's asking a lot.
And don't worry about the GOP winning in 2008. I've been a republican all my life, and I wouldn't vote for a repuplican in the 2008 election if one handed me a thousand dollars before I walked into the voting booth.

[Indiana]

Re "don't worry about the GOP winning in 2008..." Now if I knew more Republican voters felt the same way, I wouldn't worry. But now for my main topic: It would be awesome if the media reported often and broadly about the plight of those on the Gulf Coast.

Here are several media blogs' e-mail addresses to send demands for New Orleans and Gulf Coast coverage to. Not yet, because the anniversary coverage so far has been good (at least on NBC Nightly News, which is the one I watch every evening) Although it wouldn't hurt to remark on good coverage you've seen on this topic--perhaps it would encourage them to cover such news more regularly. Because I understand that news outlets hear from a lot of viewers who say they're sick of post-Katrina coverage--so they need to hear from more people who want such coverage.

dailynightly.msnbc.com for NBC Nightly News
firstread.msnbc.msn.com--for First Read, MSNBC's political blog
hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com for MSNBC's Hardball
thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com for Keith Olberman's "Countdown" on MSNBC

I don't know those for all electronic media, but the above are the ones I'm most familiar with. I regularly post (under another name) on Daily Nightly and First Read. A week or two from now when these outlets have again forgotten about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast would be a good time to start demanding more post-Katrina coverage. Don't be discouraged if your e-mails don't get posted--sometimes mine aren't. But that means someone must be reading them in order to know not to post them--and hopefully getting the message.

[BuzzingAlong]

Maybe Jeff Sessions, Haley Barbour and Trent Lott can build luxury condos there for their rich friends and reich-wing donors.

[steamboat]

Keep Louisiana politicians away from any of the aid money for rebuilding purposes. Or that money will come up unaccounted for.

[Bladernr1001]

yea, I just read that the federal government has spent $114 billion in the Katrina area specifally for disaster relief. That's a lot of money even by Washington's standards (that's like 5% of the budget).

[Indiana]

Postscript to my previous comment: I just read another blogger's post about the 8/29 "NOLA Day of Presence". That's a good start....

[Indiana]

Bravo for an excellent post! Now--the second anniversary of Katrina--is the time for a 180-degree turn when it comes to this nation's priorities. I'm talking regarding Bush Administration focus (especially its imsplaced priorities), that of both houses of Congress, all presidential candidates (including those of any serious third parties), and all other politicians.

And this includes the mainstream media. I mean, sure, for a couple of days this week they'll be in Louisiana and Mississippi covering Katrina's 2-year anniversary and the aftermath, but after that they'll move on. They'll cover relative trivia such as what Paris and Lindsey are up to while the abandoned people, still in a world of hurt, of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans continue struggling to pick up the pieces of their homes and lives, and make Mississippi and Louisiana whole.

History is at stake here--America could lose a lot if this is not addressed. Louisiana and Mississippi cannot wait until Jan. 21, 2009 (and even that's optimistically assuming the Democrats win not only the White House but both houses of Congress. If the GOP wins, all will be lost.) The remaining devastation and human needs in Louisiana and Mississippi cannot go unfixed and ignored until then.

What's urgently needed is a serious grassroots push to keep national attention focused on Katrina recovery--the way it now is on Iraq. A good start would be for storm survivors and their supporters around the country to flood mainstream media outlets with demands that news out of Louisiana and Mississippi be aired more regularly.

Then, perhaps, demonstrations could be held calling for increased aid and attention to the storm zone. At first, they could take place in New Orleans and in communities of the Gulf Coast--but if they don't accomplish their objective, one could be held in Washington (carefully timed for when the President is at home in the White House and Congress is in session). A second could be held in New York because that's where much of the mainstream media is.