President Obama at Ted Kennedy's mass. AP: Brian Snyder
What a difference an administration makes?
Four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast and almost the entire city of New Orleans, President Obama’s team has stepped in and streamlined many of the recovery efforts that were stuck in a pile of bureaucratic mess.
While campaigning for President, Obama promised to correct many of the wrongs that were committed right after the storm.
Some cases of officialdom included the hold up in construction of new police and fire stations and local buildings that are still empty due to the flooding.
But President responded quickly by naming a person to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency that actually has emergency response experience.
The President’s first act to set the federal process right was to name Craig Fugate as head of FEMA. Conservative Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal praised Obama and Fugate, stating that their response has been “practical and flexible.”
Since the storm the city of New Orleans has seen a steady stream of improvement and growth. The city boasts a 7.2% un-employment rate, that’s compared to 9% nationwide.
Before the storm New Orleans ’ school enrollment numbers hovered around 186,000 thousand students. That number dipped to a low of 108,000 in 2005 and is now up to 140,000.
More good news for the city is that 67% of its 39 hospitals pre-Katrina have now re-opened.
Except for the infamous Mercy hospital that served the poor, their doors remain closed.
Yet while many parts of the city of New Orleans are “show ready,” there is still much work to be done. The lower 9th ward of the city still remains desolate as many homes remain abandoned with boards over the windows and doors.
New sewer lines are still needed as well as over 10 hospitals. While it is feasible to think that the city would be back on its feet by now, at least there is positive progress now that competent leadership is in place.
President Obama has made many bold promises in regards to Katrina recovery and so far he has delivered on some.
The city may not be able to sustain its low un-employment rate once much of the reconstruction projects are finished, however looking back on how bad of shape New Orleans was in four years ago, I’d say job well done.
-JH
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Fours years after Katrina, New Orleans still needs us
Comments
the examiner said"Four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast and almost the entire city of New Orleans"
Our outfall canal floodwalls fell down without even being overtopped (at less than half their design loads) because of negligent engineering in the design of those floodwalls' foundations by engineers employed with the US Army Corps of Engineers as reported in the official levee failure investigation reports and reported to Congress by Corps leadership in June of 2006 and as decided by US District Judge S. Duval in 2008.
The levees did not fail because they were 'overwhelmed'. Federal engineers made lots of big stupid mistakes. Our disaster was the worst engineering catastrophe in the history of North America and the engineers that designed and built and were responsible for those failed levees are the same engineers tasked to rebuild our storm surge protection system. And, the federal government gives us no choice (and never did), but to accept the Corps' wor
nevertheless, thanks for the positive story about my city. It is a shame that my zip code still has no public schools and the nearest hospital is almost a half hour drive. Life is less prehistoric than it was.
CrescentCityRay, I appreciate your comments and thanks for viewing the story.
American has completely forgotten about the victims of Katrina, me being included in that group. As outraged as we were at the treatment of American citizens and the blatant disregard for the well-being of our people and the city of New Orleans, this issue should still be at the top of our list.
I’m happy that progress is being made in New Orleans and along the gulf coast, but we have to do more in order to continue to move forward.
-JH
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