Columnist Jamala Rogers
The intensity of Hurricane Katrina’s thrust into the history books and our consciousness has faded significantly as we recognize the 4th anniversary on August 29.
There are still unanswered questions for our nation and imperfect closure for tens of thousands of Gulf Coast victims. And for that, we must still hold our government accountable despite the lack of media attention on the multiplicity of issues of pre- and post-Katrina.
Some four years later, it is almost impossible to get complete data on the death toll, population or even costs associated with Katrina. It is equally challenging to find out what the reconstruction plan is for the Gulf Coast moving forward.
Depending on whom you ask, the death toll ranged from 1,200 to 1,800. Blogger Robert Lindsey uses the theory of excessive mortality to come up with the count of 4,081, which includes the deaths of the hurricane along with subsequent fatalities due to existing health issues exacerbated by Katrina. Suicides tripled in the year after the hurricane suicides. Hurricanekatrinarecovery.com claims that 705 people are still missing and accounted for; other sources cite higher numbers.
What we can all agree on is that Katrina was the deadliest and most costly disaster in this country’s history. In the case of Katrina, it was a lethal combination of Mother Nature’s wrath and man’s unscientific approach to disaster.
There is very little media about what is happening in real time in New Orleans where the storm’s fury was unabated. The smidge we do hear suggests that New Orleans is being recreated as a place for middle- and upper-class whites and a few middle-class blacks. Poor folks will only be needed as workers.
Take housing, for instance, one of the mainstays of a community. Most of the government-subsidized housing developments were destroyed and have been totally demolished, even those that were salvageable. Low-income families in New Orleans struggle for affordable housing where rents are 40 percent higher than pre-Katrina rates. New Orleans remains half of its population prior to the hurricane.
Another community mainstay is schools. In New Orleans, all but 8 of its 125 school buildings went under water. Slowly, schools have re-opened. Of the 80 schools, half are charter and the belief of many is that charter schools will make up the bulk of the re-designed district for the middle class. What will happen to the poor, black children who were victims of a historically failing public school system is anybody’s guess.
And speaking about poor and black, Charity Hospital is still closed with no plans to reopen it. Charity was the sole public hospital that serviced New Orleans residents with little or no private insurance.
We have all heard about the incompetence and negligence of government agencies: $1 million a year in storage charges for supplies that should have been quickly distributed to those in need; $225,000 spent by FEMA on a trailer for one family; Katrina tax breaks going to build luxury condos in Alabama; and the list goes on.
What is President Obama doing about the vestiges of Hurricane Katrina? In a campaign speech made in New Orleans last year, Obama promised to “commit myself every day to keeping up Washington’s end of this trust.” A couple of months ago, he agreed to extend the Office of Gulf Coast Rebuilding to September 30, 2009. Louisiana lawmakers think this is woefully inadequate and are begging for a minimum two-year extension. He also dispatched two cabinet members to assess the region. The president’s plan for the Gulf Coast is detailed at http://tinyurl.com/m9wgry and we can use it to hold his administration accountable in the future.
Many of us carry our own crosses and endure the stresses caused by greedy Wall Street’s economic tsunami. We find ourselves suffering similar conditions faced by Gulf Coast survivors – lack of affordable housing, homelessness, lack of health care, unemployment, etc. It will be a challenge this anniversary to put a spotlight on one of the part of the country when so many parts are in dire straits.
Given the infancy of the Obama administration and the mega issues it inherited, we must still hold up the lamp to our nation’s most vulnerable citizens wherever they are and demand the attention so desperately needed. That is the role of a humane and responsive government.