Hurricane Katrina One Year Later: A Towering Reminder
by Pamela Leavey
The photo above is on the cover of today’s Boston Globe: “Mounds of debris fill a waste collection point in New Orleans one year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.”
While Bush says the progress is “amazing, isn’t?” We see the facts differently, as presented in the post below, from fact sheets provided by Senator Ted Kennedy.
Speaking of the progress in New Orleans, the WaPo reports today:
Only half of New Orleans has electricity. Half its hospitals are closed. Violent crime is up. Less than half the population has returned. Tens of thousands of families still live in trailers and mobile homes with no real timetable for moving to more permanent housing. Insurance settlements are mired in red tape. The city still has no master rebuilding plan. And while much debris has been cleared, some remains as if the clock stopped when the storm struck.
It’s utterly shameful that George W. Bush would have the audactiy to cite progress in the Gulf, where there are so many glaring examples of the lack of.
A new poll from Rasmussen Reports today says: ‘66% Say Katrina Recovery Too Slow.’
As governments, news bureaus and the public mark the anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans, just 36% of Americans think emergency services are now better prepared to cope with disasters of comparable scale.
66% say the recovery effort in New Orleans is “not fast enough.” The pace is appropriate according to 16%, while 7% say it’s “too fast.”
In general, 47% say the federal government should bear the most financial responsibility for areas affected by natural disaster, versus 23% who name local agencies, 19% who name individuals.
The breakdown is similar when Americans consider who primarily should pay to repair areas affected by Hurricane Katrina in particular, although in this case a slightly higher percentage say the federal government should step up: 50%.
In the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, participants walked past debris in a march to commemorate the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina:
(Lee Celano/Reuters)
Filed under: Bush Admin, In The News, Politics, Republicans | Get Permalink or trackback |
Another Bush disconnect. At some speech in NOLA he urged the displaced residents to come back. To what? A city that has run out of room to dump rubbish and debris, has not reestablished electricity, gas and water to large sections of the city. Does not have enough buses, cops, or teachers.
Where the ‘hospitals’ (Charity is now operating out of a gutted Lord and Taylor’s) are treating almost 400 psyche related diagnoses per month- compared to 90 when there were over twice as many people.
And where you don’t want to get sick or wounded. There is a shortage of doctors and nurses – not to mention facilities.
Oh, what the hell, a few more lives lost won’t add much to the stats.