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KATRINA: A YEAR FULL OF TEARS By Imara Arredondo Tears everywhere is what we have seen during this year full of sad events caused by disaster. Every time we talk, go back, see or think of the losses caused by Katrina, tears come to the eyes. The past twelve months have been: a year full of tears to most people in Louisiana. It is obvious that a catastrophe of such magnitude as Katrina, would not be a piece of cake to handle. Much has been speculated about what the future holds. However, even though some people blame local government for what has not been done, one thing is real: everyone, no matter the degree of bluntness or ineptness, is doing everything possible to bring New Orleans back. NOTHING EASY ABOUT THE 'BIG EASY' Criticism and tears are not going to solve the problem though. There is much to be done, and there are many people involved in trying to play a key role in the rebirth of the Big Easy. There is nothing easy about the Big Easy at this moment. Louisiana has been known for having "too many chiefs and not enough Indians," for decades. That, in a situation like this, could be detrimental to the progress of the rebuilding efforts. Hurricane Katrina was not the major cause of the extensive damages suffered by almost 80 percent of the New Orleans area. The real cause was the rupture of the canals, that ended up in disastrous flood waters which changed the lives of many, forever. The Army Corp of Engineers say they have repaired and reinforced 220 miles of levee walls, but according to Lt. General Carl Strock, 'there are many variables that determine whether the levees can withstand another hurricane, even if they claim the city protection is back to what it was before Katrina. 'As a matter of fact, Katrina has marked Louisiana in such a way, that mostly everything is now referred to as 'before Katrina' or 'after Katrina.' Before Katrina, experts had warned that levees, which lie below sea level up to six feet in some areas, could not withstand a Category 3 hurricane. One year ago Katrina was a Category 5 before it made landfall in the Louisiana coast. Right now on the verge of Hurricane Ernesto having a possibility of entering the Gulf of Mexico, everyone is concerned about what could happen if another hurricane hits home. Not an easy picture for New Orleans, and it will take many years to erase the Katrina fear from the minds of everyone who lives six feet under sea level with not-good-enough levees to withhold the effect of flooding. The fact that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was caught by surprise due to lack of experience in hurricane related issues has called for numerous investigations that have revealed failures at all levels. Not only was the city was not evacuated on time, but local administration did not provide the means for poor people to get out on time. Scenes of people calling for help from their rooftops were hard to believe. THE MOST VULNERABLE PLACE IN AMERICA Some have called New Orleans the 'most vulnerable place in America,' and given the circumstances, after reviewing over and over things that happened one year ago, we must accept it is a fact. New Orleans had not been hit by a hurricane since Bethsy in 1965, nobody expected the canals to break and people did not take seriously any of the advices given at the time. Even Mayor Nagin was reluctant to issue a mandatory evacuation a few hours before Katrina hit, because it was difficult to foresee the catastrophe. Statistics show that close to 350,000 homes were damaged by Katrina, close to 1600 people who drowned in Louisiana, and more than 1.3 million were left homeless. One year after the catastrophe not even half of the city's hospitals are open. Only three of eleven hospitals are taking patients. There are flooded cars, debris and trailers everywhere.
Photos: Mia Almaguer
Half of the displaced population has not come back. As for rebuilding, the city needs a tremendous amount of work to rebuild it physically and economically. The school system, which had 125 public schools will open the new school year with 60 schools and half the amount of school buses there were before. FEMA AND THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FEMA has been blamed for not giving aid fast enough. Darryl Madden, a spokesman for FEMA's Gulf Coast recovery office, says that FEMA signed off on $4.8 billion worth of rebuilding in Louisiana and $1.7 billion in Mississippi. Just a few days ago, almost a year later, Donald E. Powel, coordinator for the Bush administration Gulf Cost Recovery office admits that since Katrina only $44 billion of the $110 billion in federal money earmarked for rebuilding the region has been spent, saying "I have a sense of frustration; I have a sense of urgency all the time," confirming that Federal funds have begun to reach Mississippi homeowners, but Louisiana has delayed its plans for distribution. President Bush said in a news briefing last week: "I understand the frustrations, but the people have got to understand that the federal government has made a strong financial commitment, but we're not stopping, and we want to work with the governor and the mayor to make sure the money gets to the people." No matter how difficult it might be, everyone must understand that there are procedures required for local governments to collect federal aid, and the lack of 'a plan of action' does not help in the reconstruction efforts. Long application forms for every repair project are required from city officials, and Katrina's victims do not care what is causing the delay, they want their money to take care of their day-to-day problems. BLAMING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR NEW ORLEANS PROBLEMS Yes there is a lot of bureaucracy. It is almost expected when we are taking about tremendous amounts of money to be handled by politicians. Keeping in mind how corrupted Louisiana politics have been for the past hundred years, it is not justifiable to blame the lack of action on the Bush administration. Some think they should take a closer look at home, as far as why there is so much 'lack of confidence' on the ones making the decisions. Reference is made about city officials, who happen to be Democrats, who did not do their job right: Aaron Broussard, Mayor Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco. The fact is that almost half a million people suffered due to their lack of vision, action and their fighting over jurisdiction at local and state levels. Let's face it, whether you like it or not, George Bush and the federal government have no jurisdiction over Louisiana Politics, the party responsible for the lack of plans to get the money approved. There are too many with a very well defined political agenda, capitalizing on the never ending Democrat Vs. Republican issues. Starting with the media, everyone is trying to make a political issue out of this disaster, in order to make Republicans look bad. In the meantime, Katrina's victims wait for their problems to be resolved, while everyone is too involved in accusing the Bush administration for all of their problems. THE NEW ORLEANS CITY 'HOLE' Mayor Ray Nagin is supposed to be the one who calls the shots. That is according to Thomas Oliver, president of the City Council during the 60 minutes interview aired today. With his blunt style and his arrogant attitude, Nagin must come up with a plan before the feds start pumping money into rebuilding. Please note that I am trying to ignore the New York comment about the 'fixing the hole in the ground', or I might have to say that we have another kind of 'hole above ground' in the New Orleans 'City Hole.' Nagin's leading efforts as far as clean-up and restoration of the city's infrastructure must be done fast, and after a year of tears there are still many signs of flood and debris around the city of New Orleans, especially the ninth ward, which will de difficult to bring back. FEMA and the Bush administration, almost 48 hours prior the disaster, were ready to provide assistance. But in fact, they were caught by surprise at the extent of the damage, and given the infrastructure of the New Orleans metropolitan area, they encountered many problems which did not allow aid to flow as expected. Nobody thought the damage could be so extensive. Roads were blocked, the city was flooded, and to make it even worse, even policemen were caught looting. A truly chaotic situation. A monster created by the system in the midst of tragedy. BUSINESS LEADERS ON DENIAL Two words were the most used in the aftermath of Katrina: flood and displacement. Almost 80% of the population underwent some sort of damage. Half of the population is still dispersed, and most likely, lost to another city because of Katrina. 100% of those in New Orleans have seen their lives changed dramatically in one way or another. Many business leaders were forced to come up with a plan, in order to keep the economy rolling. In an effort to make the best for the business community, some have been guided to live in denial, foreseeing an idealistic utopia that will be far to be reached before retirement years. That of course has been part of the Post Katrina syndrome, with many doctors, professionals and business people under psychological help to be able to deal with the everyday situation. There are many who were directly affected by the storm. Some had to live in trailers, and some are still living in trailers provided by FEMA. A few thousand who were in harm's way and lost everything are seeing with great sadness how their homes are demolished, and were forced to move away from the city.
THE REAL FACE OF TRAGEDY Among those are the Gonzalez family. Their home in Lakeview was flooded for several days, being in the West End area. Aside from losing everything and being displaced to Baton Rouge for over three months, they were able to buy another property one hour away from the metro area. This solved their living arrangements without any doubt, the only problem is that one of them works in downtown New Orleans and the commute is unbearable.
There are many cases where family members were lost due to Katrina. The Amadors were caught by Katrina with an ailing mother suffering from Cancer. They could not evacuate since she had only been discharged from the hospital the day before the hurricane hit, and she was not up to the evacuation hassle. Needless to say that after a lot of problems, they were rescued, and their mother died 72 hours after Katrina. NEW ORLEANS TALKS TO PREGONES THROUGH ITS LEADERS Some of our interviews are business leaders, activists, lawyers, engineers, housewives, and some victims of the Katrina flood... We have seen that many of them are very optimistic about the future. They really have no choice. They must portray a positive attitude in order to make others believe there is a future for the city. However, they all converge at one point: it will take at least five years to bring New Orleans back, and the levee system will not endure another hurricane, not even a tropical storm. MANNY BLANCO, president of HCCL There are some who are very optimistic, like Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana (HCCL) president, Manny Blanco, who sounds very positive about the come back of the city. He says that many good things have been accomplished, and many others will take place as a result of Katrina. "New Orleans will definitely survive and will come back stronger and better than before. However, there are areas of the city that may not come back or may take much longer to recover, such as the Ninth Ward, and New Orleans East. Many experts see the recovery and rebuilding taking at least 10 years. Let's not forget that after Hurricane Andrew, it took that many years for South Florida to fully recover.
levels, strong enough to withstand the strongest hurricane surge. He thinks that steps have begun to fix the school system in Orleans parish, where many schools that were failing have been placed in the hands of the state as "chartered schools"-- a first and important step in fixing serious problems with our public school system in Orleans Parish. As far as civic engagement he says "community engaged and united that demands action and accountability from our elected officials at all levels of government." He also feels that there is an economic boom sparked by construction, where "billions of dollars that have been approved by congress for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast region. New Orleans and the metropolitan area will be the major beneficiaries of an economic boom expected to begin by the end of this year and early 2007, spearheaded by the construction industry." Something that's well known by the media is the rapid changes in demographics and a growing Hispanic workforce. In that aspect Manny Blanco says: "We've seen a tremendous influx of Hispanic workers arriving in our area seeking opportunities in the construction industry as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Many are bringing their families and will stay and start small businesses." "Our main revenue source is tourism and the port. Tourism has been badly affected by the destruction of the flooding and the multi-million dollars in negative publicity that New Orleans received immediately after Katrina in the media. A significant amount of large conventions scheduled to attend this year were cancelled as a result, representing billions of dollars in loss for the local economy. However, the New Orleans Convention and Tourist Bureau has been able to book large conventions that will gather in New Orleans during the coming twelve months. The Port of New Orleans, on the other hand, has been doing well; in fact, the port is handling more cargo now (24% more) than it did before Katrina. The construction boom will also be a catalyst in the economic recovery." And Blanco is right. The Port is coming back! Overall ship calls continue to rise each week at the port surpassing the volume of cargo handled pre-Katrina. Seaboard Marine, an ocean transportation company that provides direct, regular service between the United States and the Caribbean Basin, Central and South America has added new vessels to the existing routes to a weekly service. Just last month, Seaboard Marine's New Orleans office relocated from its long-time site in Metarie, LA to France Road Pkwy. "By moving to this new location, our New Orleans staff will be closer to Seaboard's port, container depot and trucking operations which will allow us to better serve our customers". This happens after 30 percent of the port's operations in the industrial canal including terminals at France Road and Jourdan Road were heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. "The return of regular weekly service from Seaboard Marine is one of many milestones in our recovery process,” says Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. “We appreciate the vote of confidence and we will work hard to exceed expectations", he added, "Reestablishing weekly service from Seaboard highlights the importance of Central America to the Port of New Orleans.” On the social aspects, Manny Blanco feels than "More than a quarter million residents have not returned home. It is difficult to determine how many will permanently relocate and how many will come back. The fact is New Orleans will be a much smaller city -- experts say between 200 to 250 thousand -- for a long time to come. Many new residents, however, are Hispanics workers that have come to the city looking for work and opportunity. It is projected that the Hispanic population will double by the end of the year compared to the numbers before Katrina." Manny Blanco is positive that there is a future in New Orleans, "there are tremendous opportunities in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region now. The so-called GO Zone (Gulf Opportunity Zone) offers investors and residents incentives in federal assistance that will attract many companies and private enterprise to the area. And he is not so far away from reality on this either. Last Friday, during a breakfast in New Orleans, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said New Orleans is "open for business" calling the region one of the nation's best places for investment even though he feels there are many challenges to overcome. He also announced that Gulf Coast states would receive $128 million from the department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help rebuild oyster beds and conduct fisheries monitoring. However, when talking about new storms heading towards New Orleans, he says "If another hurricane, even a Category 2, hits New Orleans this year, it would be devastating for the city and much harder to endure economically. Don't even want to think about that possibility..." BOB MOENIAN, Engineer for the City of New Orleans
Bob Moenian and his
family were among the most affected, since
their home was a few blocks away from the 17th St.
Canal. Their home in Lakeview was under 8 feet of
water for 20 days. He is an Engineer for the City of
New Orleans.
.
When asked about if he thinks that New Orleans and the devastated areas are going to be able to survive this disaster he says: "the answer to both is yes, but it will take a lot of time, my opinion at least 5 years. The way this city should have been rebuilt, in my opinion is that Federal government should have done so using a military guy, and not local politicians."
Bob feels that there
is a future for New Orleans just as "in the mid
1990s when we had major floods and all kind of
other issues, they made it...",. but when
confronted with the fact of the condition of the
levees after Katrina could endure another
hurricane he says:" Levee conditions are
NOT completely safe yet, but work is ongoing.
My respect for the Corps of Engineers is not the
same. We call them Corps of Destruction. It is
tough to say what Cat 2 or 3 could do, but the
way I see it, even TD's could be dangerous for
us.
The following pictures are Bob's house, right after Katrina, and a month ago, when it was marked for demolition.
AMELIA AND JOSE "PEPE"
SIERRA, caught in the red tape
Amelia and Jose "Pepe Sierra" were displaced to another city due to the Katrina disaster, and just came back to their home a couple of weeks ago. Amelia says, "in our neighborhood a lot of the neighbors are already back, so the majority of the homes look pretty good on Broadmoor neighborhood. But most of us are still trying to get the Insurance Companies to pay for the proper amount of damage caused by Katrina. We still have too many houses throughout the city that have not been cleaned at all. We are talking about houses that still have all the furniture and personal belongings inside. We are still waiting for the Louisiana Road to Recovery Program to draft a final plan in which house owners will be helped with the monies needed to do the reconstruction. Even though we registered months ago for the program, the State Government this week announced that the registration was NOT a real registration; so now this week we have to re-register in what they called now an "application." "Pure Red Tape!"
When asked about how
they feel about the future Amelia says, "New
Orleans will never be the New Orleans that we
knew, its going through a process of transformation
that unless the economic infusion comes without
delay, more and more people just will give up
and move on. So, yes, we think the city
eventually will recover, but that will take many
years."
Amelia and Pepe
Sierra believe that New Orleans will be a "new"
city socially and economically, but as far as
they are concerned " the levees today are about
the same as they were before Katrina, the
problem is that we did not know how bad they
were. So if a hurricane Category 2 or 3 comes
this way, we think it will be okay, anything
greater than that will be in great
trouble".
JOSE TORRES TAMA,
Artist/Performer
“The Cone of Uncertainty: New Orleans
after Katrina”
With aliases such as "El Senor Futuristico," and "El Juan Bond," Jose Torres Tama is one of the few New Orleans Latin performers who has crossed over. His solos have been presented in Mexico, Canada, Eastern Europe and extensively across the USA at centers such as Performance space 122 in New York; DiverseWorks in Houston; and The National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM. In the academy, institutions such as Cornell, Duke, Louisiana State, Dillard, Spelman, Rutgers and the University of Michigan have presented his work and academic lectures on performance art as a tool for social change.
HUMBERTO FONTOVA, Author and Kenner resident Humberto Fontova is the author of "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant," a Main Selection of the Conservative Book Club, and he is a columnist at wwww.newsmax.com..
Well, all of the people hired to operate Jefferson parish's pumps were evacuated to a hundred miles north of New Orleans – on the orders of Aaron Broussard. Cops and firemen, naturally, stayed. Many sensible people consider these pump operators every bit as essential as cops and firemen during a major hurricane. The pumping stations themselves are huge, sturdy, blockhouse-type buildings. None sustained any major damage from the winds. In fact, I received some reports that area policemen, during the height of the hurricane, actually sought refuge inside a pumping station, recognizing it as the safest place around. Sure enough, they emerged completely unscathed, as was the expensive – but completely idle – pumping station.
Though no levees broke, damage in eastern Jefferson parish might reach $1 billion, mostly from flooding." They all blame Broussard for that. ERNESTO SCHWEIKERT, Owner RADIO TROPICAL
Salvador Longoria is one of the best known Hispanic lawyers in Louisiana for the past 23 years. He has been an advocate to many good causes throughout his career.
Salvador is very optimistic about the future, as well as many others. According to Longoria, "there is definitely a future in and for New Orleans. I am amazed at the commitment of my neighbors. Life has been very hard the last year. Things we take for granted, like regular garbage pickup and local groceries etc, have been lacking. But it has improved. In my neighborhood in midcity, we celebrate the reopening of each store, shop, restaurant etc. As money makes its way through the bureaucracies, the rebuilding is picking up pace. There are opportunities here and more will come in the future. Jobs are plentiful but the problem that remains is housing which is scarce.
The New Orleans area was dealt a
horrific blow by Katrina and the delays
in getting help to the people in the
early days was shameful. This should
never happen again. Remember that the
flooding was the fault of the Corps of
Engineers ie. the government. Without
the levee breaches, the damages would
have been minimal in comparison. If we
can rebuild Iraq, we can surely do
whatever is necessary to rebuild this
wonderful city. If the Netherlands can
protect their low-lying areas, the US
should be able to also. I feel confident
about the protection we now have in the
works. God spare us another storm!!!
MARGARITA BERGEN, a cultural dynamo FOREVER In spite of all the sadness surrounding the city of New Orleans, and all the tears accumulated during this past year, some things never change. Thank God! We have people like Margarita Bergen, a dynamo who never sleeps trying to keep up with the social life and culture events of the New Orleans area. She has been a Pregones columnist for over a year now, and as usual, her input is very welcome at times when everything seems not so happy. As per Margarita, things are looking much better in the cultural ambience. Let's see what she has to say.
Those
who have been reading my column,
will find out that there are
many cultural activities taking
place daily. I just cannot make it
to everything, but the choices are
there. The venues have changed
since most of the buildings have not
been renovated yet.
We may not have the Broadway plays since the Saenger Theatre is closed, but the theaters are flourishing every where else. The Opera season is schedule to open October 6 at Tulane University's McAlister Auditorium. The season will feature masterpieces such as "The Marriage of Figaro", A Gala Concert "The Toast of New Orleans","Lucia de Lammermoor" and "La Boheme." The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of dynamic Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto is scheduled to open September 16 at the Convention Center Theater. It has a very exciting program including clarinet/saxophonist Paquito d' Rivera on January 12 at the Convention Center and pianist Jorge Federico Osorio at Loyola University's Roussel Hall on March 29.As you probably know, the French Quarter Festival, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the Summer Fest -Louis Armstrong Festival have been very successful. We may not have had record attendance but the locals supported and made it their festivals. Last night, I attended at Preservation Hall a benefit concert sponsored by the New Orleans Musician Hurricane Relief Fund (NOMHRC). This organization through the incredible support of thousands of donorsm and the commitment of its staff and volunteers has assisted hundred of musicians as they return to New Orleans to rebuild their careers following Katrina. It has provided grants to music-related businesses in the private sector such as Offbeat. It has underwritten performances at many music venues including the season premier of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. It has also provided Community Leader Grants which ranged from $3,000 to $16,000 to Rebuild, Renew, Revive the music community. It has been doing a terrific job and we are grateful for it. At the event I had the opportunity to talk to Don Marshall, the Executive Director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival that gave me the great news that there will be a 'Fiesta Latina' scheduled for 21 and 22 of October at the CAC. Paquito D'Rivera will be part of the program, as well as our talented local bands. Another great news is that World and Music Festival 2006 is dedicated to the Hispanic Culture and Music, and that is going to take place at the end of October -including "Días de los Muertos." So as you can see things are looking up specially now that the city have experience a very large growth of the Hispanic population. Every Sunday, I have been hosting a Latin Night at Tommy Andrade's Tommy's Wine Bar at 746 Tchoupitoulas St. It is very elegant and I called it "An afternoon in Old Havana", since I have been featuring a Cuban band: Ache' Son. It has been a lot of fun. I have been very busy since in addition to my job as a Realtor I have been hosting a monthly Round Table Luncheon in the style of Dorothy Parker's round table at the Algonquin Hotel. Mine is at Begue's Restaurant at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. As we all can see, there are lots of great community leaders and activists throughout New Orleans in all segments of the population. People who are trying to make the best of what they have. We pray that they will be able to rebuild, better and stronger than before. We feel part of that community were we were raised and where we lived for thirty years. God Bless you all! Aqui New Orleans: forever!
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