Beyond Katrina

Three Years After Hurricane Katrina, Homelessness Looms

"That's President Bush hugging me. See how tightly he's hugging me?" It was the chilly end of 2006 in Baker, Louisiana, when Lena Beard asked me this, proudly waving a newspaper clipping my direction as we talked in her still-temporary home. The fading photo, taken the same day the mother of two took refuge on a mattress in a church after Hurricane Katrina, had served as proof after the levees burst that she was going to be okay. "I'm a veteran who has served my country and put my life on the line. I believed my country would take care of me and my family," she said. Continue at Mother Jones>>>

Jewish New Orleans undergoing dramatic transformation

Three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the face of Jewish New Orleans is undergoing a dramatic transformation. The traditional Southern community that was nearly destroyed by the hurricane on Aug. 29, 2005 has been energized by an influx of young newcomers and has a new pioneering spirit, community leaders say. Continue>>>

New Report Issued: New Orleans Neighborhood Recovery Rates, Data on Unoccupied Residences

The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center issued two short reports today:

1. They now have pre-Katrina data on households receiving mail so they can finally measure precisely how far neighborhoods have come since Katrina.  From West End to West Lake Forest to the Lower Nine, several neighborhoods are still struggling to recover.  But other neighborhoods like Broadmoor and Gert Town have astonishing recovery rates. The center hope this analysis helps the world to remember how much farther residents have to go before New Orleans is completely rebuilt.

2. Data on unoccupied residential addresses indicates that New Orleans may have fully 65,000 blighted residences or empty lots.  All told 34 percent of our residential addresses are unoccupied.  The next closest city in our analysis, Detroit, has only 18 percent. As we struggle to recovery, blight is likely to be one of the long-term challenges the city must face.

To see "Percent Recovery by Neighborhood (pre- and post-K)" and "National Benchmarks for Blight," go to:

http://www.gnocdc.org

 

Call for Speakers/Ideas: Katrina Event in Houston, Texas

I am working on a Katrina/Rita related program or event for a Foreign Media Tour of Houston, Texas ---March 5-7. The theme is how Americans view health care, the economy, and immigration in an election year. Since Houston is a  major gulf coast city that has also been impacted by the hurricanes of 2005,  there may be room in the schedule for a Katrina/Rita related program.  If you are a Katrina survivor who has relocated to Houston, or an individual or group working on behalf of Hurricane Katrina recovery issues,  I would like to speak with  you regarding  ideas  for this event. This is a great  opportunity to support the cause - i.e. to brief the foreign media  and help them better understand  issues and challenges related to ongoing gulf coast hurricane issues as well as recovery and rebuilding efforts post-Katrina.  If you have an interesting idea or contribution to make towards this endeavor,  please contact me at beyondkatrina@gmail.com.

Margaret Saizan
Beyond Katrina: The Voice of Hurricane & Disaster Recovery
www.hurricane-katrina.org.

help foreign political reporters better understand the role of local and state governments, parties, and lobbying organizations in U.S. elections.  To deepen the reporters’ understanding of the 2008 contest, the tour will also focus on key issues that both parties and all candidates are debating:  the economy, immigration, and health care. 

Violence holds back New Orleans revival

In the past two years, New Orleanians have been killed at a rate well above pre-Katrina years when factoring in the city's huge population drop. That's giving New Orleans a reputation as a national murder capital, even though it was listed as the 65th most dangerous U.S. city in a recent report based on FBI crime statistics. Continue at the Sun Sentinel.

Biloxi: Two Tales of a City

Peter Whoriskey of WaPo (who has really stayed with it re Katrina recovery reportage) has penned a telling article about the mixed recovery bag in Biloxi, Mississippi. On the one hand Casinos are thriving and real estate development is flourishing while "working class neighborhoods"  (more than 10,000 displaced families in FEMA trailers) still haven't rebounded. Now there is a proposal "to divert $600 million in federal housing aid to fund an expansion plan at the Port of Gulfport". For a deeper look into the situation see this article at WashingtonPost.com.

Report: N.O. population 63 percent of pre-Katrina

NEW ORLEANS - Nearly two-thirds of the city's pre-Hurricane Katrina population has returned, a new report shows. But Greg Rigamer, the demographer who compiled the report, said today that he expects the growth seen since July 2006 to plateau within the next year as the sense of urgency to return lessens. Rigamer, whose company, GCR & Associates, has been tracking demographics in post-Katrina New Orleans, said an estimated 288,000 people were living in New Orleans in October. In July 2005, the month before Katrina hit and left 80 percent of the city flooded, the population was estimated at 455,000. Continue at New Orleans City Business.

First Report on Migration Patterns Across South Louisiana Released Today

From: The Louisiana Recovery Authority

Study shows overall impact of Katrina and Rita on parish populations

BATON ROUGE, La. (August 7, 2007)-Today, the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) released findings from the first study of post Katrina and Rita migration patterns across South Louisiana. This study, known as the Migration Patterns Report, identifies parishes that experienced significant population losses in the aftermath of the 2005 storms and indicates to which parishes these individuals have relocated. The report also highlights regions that experienced significant population gains and indicates from where these individuals migrated.

"Katrina and Rita initially displaced hundreds of thousands of people across South Louisiana," said Dr. Calvin Mackie, a member of the LRA Board of Directors. "This displacement and the unprecedented losses and gains in overall population have had a significant impact on parish planning and resources. We hope this report will begin to fill a critical data and information void about our citizens-one that is needed to make informed policy choices and investments in our long-term recovery."

Key findings of this study include the following:

• Orleans parish had the largest out-migration in total numbers. Migrants from Orleans parish tended to be dispersed further away with about two-thirds of the out-migrants moving beyond the surveyed parishes or out of state.
• Percentage-wise, St Bernard had an even greater loss with about three-fourths of its pre-Katrina population leaving the parish. About one-third of those displaced out of parish went to St Tammany parish and approximately another third went outside of the survey area or out of state.
• The more rural parishes of Plaquemines and Cameron also had significant losses. However, in these parishes a higher percentage was able to relocate within the same parish and more were able to relocate elsewhere in Louisiana.
• There were a high number of migrations within each parish; an estimated 46,000 Orleans parish residents moved elsewhere in Orleans due to Katrina; Plaquemines and St Bernard both had about 5,000 residents each move within the parish boundaries. Cameron parish had about 2,000 residents move within the parish; compared to 2,600 residents that relocated outside the parish due to the hurricanes.
• Jefferson parish ranked second in overall storm-related out-migrations with about 70,000. Like Orleans, Jefferson parish evacuees were generally dispersed further. In addition, they had significant challenges with 35,000 displacements within parish while picking up approximately 51,000 in-migrants from other devastated parishes such as Orleans, St Bernard and Plaquemines.
• Despite losing an estimated 10,000 residents due to the storms, St Tammany parish actually experienced a population gain with an influx of about 15,000 from the southern impacted parishes. A larger number of these in-migrants came from St Bernard parish than the much larger Orleans parish.
• Simultaneously they had over 15,000 residents move within parish due to the storms and they picked up another 5,000 or so residents not related to the storms.

The complete report is available online at http://lra.louisiana.gov/assets/MigrationReport_FINAL.pdf

The estimates described in this report are based on the 2006 Census Bureau annual population estimates combined with updated data collected from door-to-door surveys in 18 parishes across Southern Louisiana. These surveys were conducted approximately 15 months following the hurricanes in the following parishes: Ascension, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, Iberia, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St Charles, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion and Washington.

Surveys were conducted by the Louisiana Public Health Institute on behalf of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the Louisiana Recovery Authority, with technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau. Complete and updated survey results - including demographic breakdowns, insurance coverage information and more from the 2006 Louisiana Health & Population Survey - are available online at www.popest.org

The LRA's Migration Patterns Report was released in conjunction with two other studies conducted by the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps and researchers at Louisiana State University (LSU).

The Recovery Corps survey, titled Where Did They Go and Are They Coming Back, provides an analysis of displaced Louisianans living in other states and discusses barriers they have identified to returning. This report is available online at www.recoverycorps.org.

The Louisiana FEMA Park Survey, which was conducted by LSU and the LSU AgCenter on behalf of the Recovery Corps, the Department of Labor, and the LRA, includes information about the past, present and future plans of trailer park residents in addition to information about their education, health, employment and income status. This report is available online at www.lra.louisiana.gov.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana. To learn more, visit www.lra.louisiana.gov.

Indigenous Landscapes Post-Katrina: Beyond Invisibility and Disaster

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

The American Indian Culture and Research Journal is now accepting manuscript submissions between 15-35 pages (including notes) for a special edition focusing on the current status of American Indian Nations, tribes, and communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Articles should focus on tribal invisibility during the mainstream media's news coverage of the Hurricane on television and in newspapers, the support of American Indian Nations and organizations during and after the Hurricane, the preservation of cultural traditions post-Katrina (i.e., white oak and rivercane basketry, weaving palmetto, weaving Spanish moss, sacred corn feasts, Mardi Gras regalia making, etc.) including sacred and historic sites (Natchez mounds, Marksville mounds Congo Square, etc.), the history of tribes in the Gulf Coast Region and the struggle for recognition, the re-building process in states such as Louisiana and Mississippi, personal family narratives, the economic impact on indigenous communities, including, but not limited to the displacement of the Houma, Tunica-Biloxi, Chitimacha, Choctaw, and Mardi Gras Black Indians, interracial group relations, and the current status of tribal and community sustainability and recognition.

Specific area themes for the journal are:

The Invisibility of Race and Place

Displacement and Recovery

Preserving Cultural and Historical Traditions

Personal Narratives Pre and Post-Katrina

Economic and Environmental Implications

The Status of Tribal Sovereignty Post-Katrina

Please send submissions to:

Andrew Jolivette, Guest Editor AICRJ
American Indian Studies Department
College of Ethnic Studies, EP 103
San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA. 94132

Please follow the AICRJ style guidelines available at:

http://www.books.aisc.ucla.edu/AICRJ_Style_Guide.pdf

Submission deadline: August 15th, 2007

Please send 3 hardcopies of the submission and a CD with the article in
Microsoft word format.

Road to New Life After Katrina Is Closed to Many

From the New York Times, this is the third article in a series on the fragmentary recovery of New Orleans and its people, nearly two years after the flooding unleashed by Hurricane Katrina. Also see

• Largely Alone, Pioneers Reclaim New Orleans (July 2, 2007)
• Aching for Lost Friends, but Rebuilding With Hope (July 2, 2007)