Two years after Katrina...

I've been considering many topics over the last week or so with which I could initiate this new online component of my life. I've mulled over the changing roles of religion in Western society, the genre of memoir, and various influences in the development of contemporary music. I am sure I will make my way to all these topics and more in due time, but I've decided that right now a discussion of the state of affairs two years after Hurricane Katrina is most pressing.

Two years ago today, in the early morning hours of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the southern edge of our country, devastating many lives in Louisiana and Mississippi in particular, though the damage spread into other states as well. Over 1,800 people were killed. The city of New Orleans was especially hard hit - to date, only 10% of the population of the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans has been able to return home.

None of the above is news to most anyone with a pulse over the age of five. I am not writing now to describe the effect that Katrina had two years ago. I am writing now because I believe it is a disgrace that Katrina has fallen out of the public consciousness as much as it has. I guess most attacks against our current federal government are focusing on the invasion of Iraq and the various instances of questionable ethics in the Bush administration (and the ensuing mass exodus of the rats from the sinking ship that is the G.W.Bush legacy)...these are, in my opinion, warranted and timely topics...but let's not forget about the role (or should I say, lack of a role) our elected officials have played in the recovery of a great American city.

I was heartened today to come across some two-year anniversary coverage of Katrina, though I worry that much of the country will forget all about it again until the third year anniversary next year (soon before a highly anticipated Presidential election). Both Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate discussed it today on WNYC. As Brian Lehrer said, "it's really a damn shame" that there hasn't been more political fallout due to the exposed ineffectiveness of government in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Oprah Winfrey had a special new show today, a week and a half before the start of her Fall season, called "Katrina Two Years Later: An Oprah Special Report," which included CNN's Anderson Cooper among other guests. Oprah applauded Anderson Cooper for keeping the Katrina story alive on CNN, and I applaud Oprah for bringing the story to network television (especially since I do not have cable myself). Anderson was blunt in his assessment of the government on local, state, and federal levels; as he said, "it takes leadership (to improve the situation of those hit by Katrina), and that is what has been lacking." Anderson also said that "it was left up to individuals to figure out a system on their own."

My sincere appreciation goes out to anyone who has volunteered time and/or resources towards rebuilding New Orleans and surrounding areas. I believe many aspects of recovery would not be possible without individual citizens taking the initiative to pitch in. My anger today is a result of the obvious lack of government planning in cases of national disaster, and the lack of responsibility and initiative demonstrated by our elected leaders.

Facts:
-4500 doctors were displaced in the storm, and only 50% have returned
-25% of New Orleans residents currently get their basic medical care in emergency rooms (six New Orleans hospitals remain closed, including Charity Hospital, designed to serve the uninsured)
-the death rate in New Orleans is nearly 50% higher than before the storm
-people are still living in what were supposed to be temporary FEMA trailers, some of which contain over 20 times higher than acceptable levels of formaldehyde in the building material
-some studies suggest that 2/3 of New Orleans children are struggling with depression and/or chronic fear
-there were 196 psychiatrists in New Orleans before the storm, and now there are 22...not a good statistic in a city where suicidal thoughts have increased in a fair proportion of the population
-violent crime is on the rise: as of today, 27 people have been murdered in New Orleans in this month, August 2007, alone