Katrina - Has America Forgotten?

[JTD]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 744_2.html

The situation is still very dire in New Orleans and the MGC area but the media has moved on, viewers send angry e-mails to news outlets blasting them for covering Katrina "too much", people are still living in trailers.

After Katrina in September/October, it was going to be America's mission to restore New Orleans and the MGC. To make those areas even better than they were before Katrina.

Empty words? I think that people who live far away from NO can't even begin to imagine just how bad the situation still is. Where is the media reporting on this? Where are the reconstruction efforts?

Where is the "Marshall Plan" that was going to rebuild NO? Read that above article and tell me it's not needed.

Will the New Orleans Levees be able to withstand whatever comes their way this hurricane season? I think that is still questionable.

I could go on.

[CHRISTY]

I WILL NEVER FORGET HURRICANE KATRINA!SHE TOOK MY SISTER'S LIFE....

[Jim Cantore]

It was a cloudy monday Morning in New Jersey, I'll never forget it.

[Air Force Met]

Where is the "Marshall Plan" that was going to rebuild NO? Read that above article and tell me it's not needed.

Well...and I am not on one side of the fence or the other...but...I think it is a question that should be asked.

I also think it is a question that we, as a country, do not have the political or moral integrity to answer correctly.

Answering strictly from a logical point of view...there is no "Marshall Plan" needed for NOLA. NOLA doesn't need to be rebuilt...not where it is now and in it's current form. No way...no how. Given the current rate of sinking and the rate the delta is disappearing, to rebuild NOLA as it was...even with better levies, is fool-hearty. TO rebuild it as it needs to be is of such a great cost...who can bear it...and should the taxpayers of the US be made to do so (you know...those sitting everywhere else)? I can't answer that question.

These are tough questions...and we do not have to backbone to answer them. The logical side of me says we would be crazy to rebuild NOLA as it was...because the potential disaster will only get worse as time goes by...not better. The emotional side is a different story. You want to rebuild it...because it is NOLA. I miss it. That's where my wife and I went when it was time to start our family...and it worked. 9 months later David was born (and my mother was ready for grandchildren so she footed the bill... )

So...on the one hand you have logic that says "no way!" and other the other hand you have emotions that say "Yes way!"

So...I am glad we have not jumped the gun here...and done something that we will end up regretting 15 years from now because our emotions told us to get on with it. NOLA can be rebuilt...but to do it RIGHT means a cost SO HIGH that we can't even imagine it yet. It will mean (money-wise) more than just building a better levy system and rebuilding the homes. We are talking about raising the city...like Galveston after 1900...working on the flow of the Mississippi to add land to the delta...tons of work.

That's a huge cost...and when Americans see how much that will be...are they really going to be in a giving mood? I'm not so sure. All I do know is I am glad we have not done anything there too hasty...because at the rate things are happening in the environment...we would be just setting up a greater disaster in the future if we just simply rebuilt. That's what they did in Indianola, Texas.

[beachbum_al]

Unless you are down here people have forgotten in my opinion. I for one will never forget and either will my husband. He went to to Venice, LA this weekend to fish. He stayed at the Cypress Mariner which has just been rebuilt recently. He said the area looked like a bomb went off and just the place to pieces. A lot of damage. He stayed in Pass Christian at a friend's sil house. He said the MGC is bad but is making slow progress. Remarkably the people's attitude that he talked to were great considering what they had been through.

[JTD]

AFM, beach, those were awesome posts.

[SouthFloridawx]

Yes people have forgotten what happend along the Eastern LA and MGC. They kind I knew what happend there but, much of the focus has been on New Orleans. If the leeves in New Orleans didn't break then all of the focus would have been on those areas in the MGC and Eastern LA. In fact I don't even live there and I am insulted by the lack appriciation for what has happend there. I know us here at storm2k do appriciate it but, the media has forgotten about that area.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I don't think anyone will ever really forget something of this magnitude. It is human nature, however, to want to simply "move-on". Believe me, few know it any better than I what it's like to ride through mile after depressing mile of wrecked homes and debris--it's a daily ritual here, and I know it's got to be just inconceivably depressing for those folks living along the Mississippi Coast, and the residents of St. Bernard, which I'm glad the article gave good coverage to. I, too lost a dear family member to this storm, also a friend and a physician for many of my children. No, it's not something anyone will ever forget; it's just that dwelling on it isn't going to make things happen any faster. The folks in Mississippi, to their credit, are well underway but given the magnitude of the disaster it will take literally years for her coasts to get something akin to her erstwhile grandeur. As far as New Orleans--that city is going through crisis after crisis simply in dealing with the aftermath, and unless they stop fooling around with band-aids and snake-oil remedies and truly go after the cause of the infection, the city is ultimately going to be doomed to a sliver of land along the river while almost everyone else relocates to higher (and safer) ground while nature reclaims much of what once was that city. Recovery there will take literally decades--if ever! This was truly an event of historical proportions so it will be impossible to "forget" it.

That said, while I listen daily to recovery talk over local radio, I can see why some people in other areas of the country don't want to hear the same depessing thing day in, and day out. I do find it a sad testimony, however, that there seems to be a national voyeurism and obsession with far more trivial matters that certain media have made into causes celebre. For purposes of discretion I shan't mention any names; but for those who watch the news (specifically cable news channels), you know whereof I speak.

A2K

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

I WILL NEVER FORGET HURRICANE KATRINA!SHE TOOK MY SISTER'S LIFE....

My prayers go out to you and your family as well as to the people
and families of other people impacted by the hurricane.

[HurricaneBill]

Not to take away from this, but the storm America has seem to forgotten is Rita.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Not to take away from this, but the storm America has seem to forgotten is Rita.

I don't think they've forgotten Rita either; and for those most severely impacted, "their" storm was the "calamity of calamities" and I can appreciate that--it's human nature. That it has been overshadowed by Katrina is beyond doubt because for the first time we have a hurricane that has potentially brought about an end to the nearly 300 year history of one of America's most colorful and famous cities. It is for this reason that so much focus has fallen on New Orleans. Yes, we can go on and on about "if the levees hadn't breached"...but the fact is they DID breach, and we must deal with the consequences of that reality. (By the way, not ALL of them breached, there is clear photographic evidence of some being overtopped (specifically the levees of the MRGO and Intercoastal Canals which contributed to the horrendous flooding in St. Bernard and the lower Ninth). Had, Katrina truly "dodged" away from New Orleans, and let's say Rita had maintained at least Cat 4 and gone up through Galveston Bay with horrendous winds and surge, all but destroying a major city, like Houston (or most of it's southern environs), there can be no doubt that Katrina would have been relegated to the back pages and Rita touted out front.

This in no way mitigates the pain of those affected by Rita, and my heart goes out to them--a terrible storm--repeat of Audrey for the poor folks of Cameron. To the families who lost a loved one and saw their homes demolished by Wilma in Florida, THAT will be the benchmark of the 2005 season. Individually, we measure magnitude of pain as it impacts us personally. The media, on the other hand, measures it as it affects a much broader swath of area and impacts a far greater number of lives. Perspective can be terribly impersonal at times; but it is the way of life. Personally, I will forget neither--Rita also caused re-flooding in New Orleans, exacerbating what was already a calamity, and that is a fact few people still realize.

A2K

[TSmith274]

Well, as I posted on the Aftermath forum, word is from Congressman Bobby Jindal that we may be getting closer to giving Louisiana it's fair share of its own oil and gas royalties. As I'm sure you all know, the little state of Louisiana supplies this nation with almost 1/3 of its energy supply. That's A LOT of money. If it goes through, it would supply, through bonding out, an immediate sum of about $25 billion. The state would then use that money to build a category 5 levee system AND restore the coast. And you can bet they won't be using the US Army Corps of Engineers. They'd probably assemble a board of world renown engineers from all over the globe, probably including several Dutch engineers. One interesting aspect will be a floodwall to block surges from entering Lake Poncartrain, which is what got New Orleans... but that's another topic for another day. It would be enough money by current estimates.

[HurryKane]

That said, while I listen daily to recovery talk over local radio, I can see why some people in other areas of the country don't want to hear the same depessing thing day in, and day out.

You must be listening to 870. I had to stop a couple of months after the storm because I couldn't take it any more.

[Extremeweatherguy]

I don't think anyone has forgotten any of the storms, and they do still have stories from time to time. The reason they are not top news anymore, however, is because they have already beat the stories to death. The months after Katrina, Rita and Wilma were filled the stories day in and day out. Really, the fact of the matter is...they have run out with things to talk about. People are also becoming too worried about this upcoming season now that they are losing interest in the last one.

[wxman57]

Consider this - there were many miles of levees which were exposed to the massive storm surge around New Orleans. The levees broke at their weakest points, and those are the areas that were repaired. What we DON'T know is where those second or third weakest points are, where the levees were about to fail but didn't because they gave way elsewhere first. It might not take much of a storm to put New Orleans underwater again, perhaps even a strong tropical storm or a very heavy rain. Do you think it's wise to rebuild in the areas that were flooded until every single levee has been inspected inch-by-inch from top to bottom? I think there may be a better-than-not chance that New Orleans will flood again before the 2006 hurricane season is over.

I'll be traveling there tomorrow as a featured speaker at the Continuity Insights conference at the Sheraton on Canal Street. I'll be speaking at Tulane's hurricane seminar on Thursday morning as well. Maybe I'll see some of you there.

[Jagno]

Not to take away from this, but the storm America has seem to forgotten is Rita.

Still living it each and every day my friend. However, I don't want the media attention. It only slows down the progress of the hard working people and the community who wake up every morning to "just do what needs to be done" to bring back our communities. It's the people, not the press that get the job done.

In response to the posters questions. DH and I just got back from New Orleans and the sight that still haunts me is as follows: We were driving in a neighborhood and going slowly as we dodged a boat in the road along with several other pieces of what use to be homes and businesses. As he was navigating the obstacle course I was looking around and noticed this woman (best guess is she was in her late 80"s or early 90"s) just rocking away with what looked like a glass of lemonade. I tell you she was just as content as could be while rocking a mile a minute. I noticed an entire roof, still intact, was sitting in the middle of the road in front of her home. I cried when I realized it was her roof. I still wonder if anyone told her that her roof was missing?

It is still a real disaster down there and another storm would pick up all of this debris and create "hell on earth" for these folks.

[HurryKane]

Agree with Jagno somewhat. Disagree in that there are people out there who would probably be moved to help if they knew how bad things still are, and they don't know/aren't aware of the slow pace of rebuilding.

However, it does get annoying when I travel elsewhere and people ask things like, "So, you guys are back to normal now, right?"

[Derek Ortt]

Rebuild the levees to withstand a real category 3 hurricane like Katrina, that would be a good first step.

The fact is, and dont give me this category 5 surge stuff, as it does not hold water, the levees did not do their job. They were supposed to hold in a cat 3, and they did not

[Audrey2Katrina]

That said, while I listen daily to recovery talk over local radio, I can see why some people in other areas of the country don't want to hear the same depessing thing day in, and day out.

You must be listening to 870. I had to stop a couple of months after the storm because I couldn't take it any more.

I hear ya', HurryKane, and you got it right... WWL. I usually only tune in for certain programs that focus on things important to ME and the future of the city my family has lived in for some 250 odd years. Actually most of the time, I slip in my mp3 CD and listen to either classic rock, or contemp. country.... yeah, I know the Beatles, Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas, make an ODD mix with Rascal Flatts, Travis Tritt, Tim McGraw et. al... but I like it. It's a nice break in the monotony.

A2K

[Audrey2Katrina]

What we DON'T know is where those second or third weakest points are, where the levees were about to fail but didn't because they gave way elsewhere first.

and THAT is what I listen for. Many times Garland Robinette has on his show engineers to discuss that very topic. For the time being the operative phrase is: "It's the LEVEES, stupid!" And your point is well taken; albeit there are constant ongoing inspections for any other "weak" points, and shoring of other areas. Is it enough? Let's hope and pray it is until they have done the complete job, and that by the grace of God any further disasters can be averted until that is accomplished.

A2K