by John Toohey-Morales, CBM, CCM
Katrina struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts on the morning of August 29th, 2005. Even though more than two years have passed since its devastating impact, the city of New Orleans has yet to recover. During the AMS Annual Meeting this January many, including myself, had an opportunity to tour the New Orleans neighborhoods that were most affected by the storm. Having lived through Hurricane Andrew in southern Miami-Dade County, I tend to not be easily impressionable when I see images of hurricane destruction.
But it’s difficult to not be impacted by what one sees in New Orleans. A key fact to digest is that 80 percent of the city was flooded by Katrina. Only the historic French Quarter remained dry. Among those flooded, there were neighborhoods where the water was 15 feet deep. In other words, on the two-story homes that survived, you can clearly see the mark left by the dirty water line on the second floor. When visiting the Lower 9th Ward, where so many families with few resources lived, it is chilling to see the holes in the roofs of the homes where residents had to ax their way out of their attic and wait to be rescued. Not everyone had an ax. Not all were young or had the strength to get out.
Another sight that impressed me was that of the canals that crisscross the city. I am accustomed to seeing these in South Florida, where the Everglades were drained to allow for development and urbanization. But the canals in New Orleans are elevated, each contained within earthen levees and concrete walls. Behind each wall and levee are entire neighborhoods lying entirely well below the level of the water. Seeing this makes it easy to visualize how New Orleans flooded so quickly when the levees failed. It should deeply concern us that someday the levees will fail again, and the city will again be ravaged by flood waters.
Yet I don’t blame the residents of New Orleans for wanting to return. After all, it is home. In the 9th Ward I observed the good work being done by “Habitat for Humanity”. Family by family, this organization is building homes rapidly and efficiently for the victims of the hurricane. I also saw the area where actor Brad Pitt and his foundation will build dozens of new homes. These are places where there was hardly a nail left from the original structures. Right now you can only see weeds, and some cinder blocks that outline the layout of each of the homes that used to stand there.
Despite the help from these and many other organizations, less than half of the residents of New Orleans have returned. There is a housing shortage (obviously), and rent has doubled from $600 to $1,200 for a 2 bedroom apartment. New Orleans is far – very far – from a full recovery.
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