Hurricane Katrina and African-American Society - On-Going Recovery - Essay Example

Hurricane Katrina and African-American Society: On-going Recovery Three Years Later Hurricane Katrina is one of the worst disasters to ever touch American shores. Unfortunately the hurricane itself only heralded the beginning of this tragedy. The real tragedy began in the aftermath of the storm, as New Orleans filled with water, turning the once vibrant city into a sewer. The flood waters swept into the city, overwhelming the levees protecting New Orleans on August 29, 2005, placing over eighty percent of the city underwater at depths up to twenty feet in some areas. Failure of the levees led to the displacement of over two hundred and fifty thousand people (NOAA). In the days that followed, the death toll due to the storm would rise to one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three people, 1577 of that number in Louisiana, with hundreds still unaccounted for (CNN). Even though the water was pumped out of the city within four days, thousands were left homeless and abandoned in the wreckage of the city. The survivors of the storm and flood made their way through the remnants of New Orleans to the Superdome. What was previously the home of the New Orleans Saints became home to thousands of refugees awaiting government aid that fell far short of expectations. Survivors were abandoned for days as they waited for aid that wouldn't come fast enough. The world watched helplessly as graphic images of people begging for assistance, of people dying in the streets filled television screens urging them to act, to help bring relief to those affected by this senseless catastrophe. The end result was just as horrifying as the uncensored images displayed which both brought world-wide attention to the nightmarish circumstances facing the survivors and exploited them for those who would take advantage of the disastrous situation (Hartman, Chester; Spires, Gregory). There were plenty of people waiting in the wings to capitalize on the devastation surrounding the survivors of the storm. The total damage has been estimated at $125 billion (CNN). When our own government wouldn't step up to the challenge, other groups stepped in to raise funds for those displaced by the storm and subsequent flooding. Some of these were legitimate non-profit groups whose only interest was to try and help, such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army who brought food, water, clothing and volunteers to the area. Others were scam artists and large corporations who took the opportunity to profit from the devastation and take advantage of those who required assistance most. The United States government made no preparations for those that depended on public transportation just to get around the city, for those sick, invalid, or financially unable to leave on their own merit in the days leading up to Katrina (Brookings Institution). Even after the storm passed and the National Guard made their way into the devastation of New Orleans, they brought few supplies for those trapped inside the city, were even instructed to not distribute their own water and supplies to those crying out for help (Hartman, Chester; Spires, Gregory). Survivors were left in the ill-equipped Superdome as the government feared the spread of disease from those who had been forced to live in the fetid waters flooding the city. When they finally were brought supplies from the government, refugees were given boxes containing the vaccine for SARS (Hartman, Chester; Spires, Gregory). The lack of real response to the poorer, African-American population on the behalf of our government is a point of contention worth a deeper examination. The most recent numbers from the government show a total federal infusion of one hundred and twenty-six billion dollars into the Gulf area for rebuilding. Of that amount, one hundred and one billion has either been dispersed or is available for the affected states' governments to draw on (White House). President Bush has committed the federal government to allowing the state of Louisiana a thirty year period to repay their segment of the loan used to rebuild the levees, a heavy tax burden for those struggling to get back on their feet. While the official White House statement paints the Bush administration as dedicated to the complete reconstruction of New Orleans, the most affected areas, the African-American communities of the Ninth Ward and Lakeview, have been left greatly untouched in the three years following Katrina (Black Voices). Residents of these areas who were previously living in sub-standard government and low-cost housing are still removing debris and living without electricity. Their upper class counterparts are enjoying payoffs from insurance claims and the government while the city of New Orleans is rebuilt as a glossy version of its former self, ignoring the needs of the black communities still in shambles. For example, as an indication of the priorities of the federal and local governments, tourist attractions and convention centers were the first areas to be repaired after the flood waters receded, not the less eye-catching areas where local citizens lived and worked. Those lower class citizens still occupy FEMA trailers, have returned to their homes to try and make the best of their situation on their own, or have been displaced to other cities across the country with no incentive to return home. Their homes are being torn down rather than repaired or rebuilt. The area of the Ninth Ward has been left largely to its own devices, residents receiving little or no assistance in the reconstruction of the area. Three years after the initial disappointment on the part of our government, the federal government's idea of rebuilding New Orleans is to give tax breaks for in-coming corporations and to award grants and insurance policies to businesses, homeowners, and renters who had FEMA flood insurance policies (Kaiser Family Foundation). While that is a great way to help those who had the financial means and the foresight to have flood insurance, what has happened to those displaced by the storm that lived in public housing and had no flood insurance Those who were already poor and living on fixed incomes, those not fortunate enough to have flood insurance are being left largely to their own devices, watching the remnants of their homes either be torn down to make way for newer, more expensive development, or being completely disregarded by the rebuilding process. Entire neighborhoods remain in shambles, especially those in the poorer sections of town. These lower-class citizens who were loaded on buses and planes from the Superdome and shipped off to other cities around the country are being kept away from their homes by higher costs of living and an increasingly competitive job market. The White House reports that New Orleans currently has eighty-seven percent of its pre-Katrina population numbers (White House). It does not reveal how much of that eighty-seven percent resided in New Orleans prior to the Katrina devastation. Not only race and class figures into those encouraged to move into the New Orleans area, but also age and gender. Elderly residents of the Ninth Ward who live on social security have no money to pay for the increase in housing or the increase in taxes that the new, wealthy development is causing. The majority of these people had a tough time already making ends meet. Now they are expected to pay higher property taxes, rental rates, and income taxes to pay for rehabilitation of other areas of the city. Survivor stories depict what the wealthy would consider frightening living conditions in poor homes where the elderly are living without proper walls in their previous homes, no appliances, and no real way to store their food (Hurricane Survivors). Living on the already ridiculously small amount of social security that they draw a month, the elderly have been left to repair their own housing. Assuming that they would not be equipped to do the work themselves, they would have to hire someone to complete the repairs. That's if they can afford the supplies to rebuild. The new structure of New Orleans is also turning its back on young, single mothers who were dependant on government assistance prior to the hurricanes. Since government and low cost housing were destroyed, these young women have nowhere to go when returning to their homes. These types of housing have yet to be rebuilt, residents still waiting on the promise of rebuilding the Ninth Ward. Whereas adults can exist in this area while attempting to rebuild on their own, these women and children have different needs. Children need the schools that don't exist, a real home to live in that doesn't have mold, mildew, or missing walls. Their mothers need government assistance to make ends meet along with a job that does not currently exist in the area. With slow or no rebuilding taking place in their former neighborhoods, mothers aren't inclined to bring their children back to the area (Hurricane Survivors). Those that rely primarily on government assistance have been forced to settle elsewhere as they await the reconstruction of government housing. With no housing and no jobs currently in or quickly reentering the area, these young women have no incentive to return to their former neighborhoods with their children. In the predominantly African-American neighborhood of the Ninth Ward, one of the hardest hit areas in New Orleans, the remaining residents are still removing debris three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. By August of 2006, electricity had been restored to ninety-two percent of the Ninth Ward along with seventy percent of the gas. Sewer and water services had been returned to the upper part of the neighborhood which had also seen mail service restarted as of that July (CNN). Many of the areas' poorer black citizens, men and women living on fixed incomes and social security, returned to their damaged homes to try and rebuild their lives, without assistance from flood insurance policies. These people live in homes that still retain water damage, and are missing sheetrock, their claims turned down by FEMA because they live in the wrong zip code (Hurricane Survivors). Based on the area of town a survivor resided in, the government is deciding whether or not affected people are worthy of compensation for the horror that they had to go through. With this act, the government is opening the door for a harsh class system environment in New Orleans by dividing the city between the very poor and the wealthy. The very poor are being pushed out of the area by contractors being made wealthy on supposed rehabilitation of the area and the high cost of living that these builders are bringing with them. Previous citizens are being forced to either moved on to make a new life for themselves in another place if they were taken out by the National Guard, or they've returned to their former homes in New Orleans to live in the remnants of their lives as they attempt to rebuild themselves, without government sponsorship. In contrast, tourist hot-spots such as the French Quarter and the Saint Louis cemetery were back to near normal function and welcoming tourists in under a year. The Superdome reopened in late September of 2006, just in time for a football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons (CNN). A year after the waters flooded the city, the black community of the Ninth Ward was the one still left without even full gas and electricity. The only other areas reporting that much damage a year after the storms was the area surrounding the I-10 bridge where ground broke in July 2006 to replace the ruined structure and Lakeview, another predominantly African-American community where the remaining structures have been demolished and never rebuilt. Three years after Katrina, the Ninth Ward and Lakeview still have not been rebuilt. Though all of the tourist attractions are reopened and the city reportedly has twice as many restaurants as it had prior to the hurricane, the main groups of residents of the city prior to Katrina are being left out of the city's rebuilding process. Government assistance, federal grants, and federal contracts have led to the reconstruction of these areas very quickly. Rent and home prices are twice the price that residents previously paid. Rent controlled housing is reportedly being built, according to New Orleans Mayor Nagin, however those homes are not in the city currently. In the interim, even if these residents could get a job in the rapidly developing job market, housing is a problem due to the high cost. As of this past August, there were still twenty-eight hundred FEMA trailers in use in the New Orleans area (Black Voices). Rental prices in the Ninth Ward have soared, a small property rents at rates approaching fifteen hundred dollars a month. That rate is comparable to rentals in posh city high-rises. The Bush administration gives away billions to rebuild the Middle East, often when its assistance is not wanted. In stark contrast, there is little rebuilding happening in our own country where the funds are desperately needed. The needs of two African-American communities in New Orleans have been and continue to be largely ignored, with little progress having been made to make the areas inhabitable for residents. Though the politicians and wealthy upper class are using the funds appropriated for Katrina victims to build their own idealized version of New Orleans complete with high-end condos, expensive hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions, the true character of the city is disappearing under the new high gloss veneer while the people in the most need of those funds are living in wretched circumstances without the basics of a house surrounding them. There are people in the Ninth Ward still without electricity, gas, and running water, keeping their food cold in disposable coolers because they don't have appliances (Survivors), while the wealthier citizens sit back and lap up available funds for disaster relief, using them to further their own agendas in the troubled housing market. The African-American population of New Orleans is in no way being encouraged to return home or to remain in their previous neighborhoods. With no real plans on behalf of the local or federal governments to rebuild these areas, these residents may never have homes to return to. There is hope that the incoming Obama administration may take a different view of the most affected areas, providing long-awaited relief for the African-American population of the city, including those that inhabit the Ninth Ward. As there is hope, there is also a very real fear of future failure of the current levee system. At this time, the levees have not been rebuilt to withstand the pressures of a strong hurricane. There is ongoing work on the levees as well as the city's pump system that will fortify New Orleans further from future flooding. It is uncertain whether or not the levees will be strengthened further to be expected to withstand a hurricane higher than the current category three level that they have been built at (Popular Mechanics). Despite the threat of future flooding and the daunting lack of government assistance, there is still hope that New Orleans will again be home to a thriving black population, though it may take many more years for that dream to be realized. The next four years under new federal administration will be a telling time in the reconstruction of New Orleans. Works Cited Black Voices. Katrina Aftermath. 28 August 2008. 25 November 2008 . Brookings Institution. Katrina Reading Room. 31 August 2008. 26 November 2008 . CBS News. New Orleans Told Levees May Not Hold. 26 August 2006. 25 November 2008 . CNN. Hurricane Katrina. 20 September 2006. 26 November 2008 . Hartman, Chester; Spires, Gregory. There's No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster. New York: Routledge, 2006. Hurricane Survivor Images. Katrina Destruction. 5 September 2005. 26 November 2008 . Hurricane Survivors. Hurricane Digital Memory Bank. 26 August 2008. 29 November 2008 . Kaiser Family Foundation. Giving Voice to the People of New Orleans. 10 May 2007. 27 November 2008 . NOAA. Hurricane Katrina, A Climatological Perspective. Government Issue. Ashville: U.S. Department of Commerce, 2005. Popular Mechanics. Hurricane Katrina - Debunking the Myths. 24 November 2008. 26 November 2008 . White House. Hurricane Katrina. 20 August 2008. 2008 27 November . Read More