Political effects of Hurricane Katrina
Encyclopedia
Commentators have discussed the likely effects of the disaster on a wide range of political issues.
, the Department of Homeland Security "will assume responsibility on March 1 [2005] for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort".
Many critics have noted that while Mayor Nagin gave a mandatory evacuation order on August 28, before the storm hit, they did not make sufficient prevention
and provisions to evacuate the homeless, the poor, the elderly, the infirm, or the car
-less households. Hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, were supposed to have pre-determined evacuation and/or refuge plans in place. Foreign nationals without transport claimed that the police refused to evacuate them, giving bus places only to American citizens.
Despite this, 90% of Greater New Orleans was evacuated- the most successful and complete evacuation of a US city since the American Civil War.
Prior to this, on August 27 the White House issued a statement, effective August 26, authorizing federal emergency assistance for Louisiana. The statement authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief and "...required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn." This includes all the parishes in the state of Louisiana except the coastal parishes which are inherently exposed to the most destructive forces of a hurricane. The President had not yet authorized FEMA to enter the coastal areas despite the governor's request including those parishes. The governor activated the National Guard with her August 26, State of Emergency Declaration Red Cross relief in New Orleans remains forbidden by the Governor.
According to the Louisiana Evacuation plan, evacuation was mainly left up to individual citizens to find their own way out of the city. It was known that many residents of New Orleans lacked cars. It is also believed that many citizens, having survived previous hurricanes, did not anticipate the impending catastrophe and chose to ride out the storm. Even so, a 2000 census revealed that 27% of New Orleans households, amounting to approximately 120,000 people, were without privately owned transportation. Additionally, at 38%, New Orleans has one of the highest poverty
rates in the United States. These factors may have prevented many people from being able to evacuate on their own. Consequentially most of those stranded in the city are the poor, the elderly, and the sick.
State and city evacuation plans ( Part 1 Section C and part II-2) mention use of school buses for evacuation. With the following language: "The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Several hundred school buses were left parked on low ground where they would be easily flooded with storm water and then later by the levee flooding making their use impossible in the emergency evacuation. It is not clear whether these buses were owned by the city or by a private contractor to which the city had outsourced school bus services. Mayor Nagin testified in his hearing in Washington that those buses were owned by the school board and that he had no control over them. The precise number of buses available has been cited anywhere from a couple of hundred to a likely exaggerated 2,000.
During non-emergency times, drivers of school bus
es must own and maintain a class D commercial license or better depending on the exact size and weight of the bus. During an emergency any driver is suitable as long as approved by the Governor. In spite of risks and his lack of formal training or license, 20-year-old Jabbar Gibson
commandeered a New Orleans school bus and rescued 70 people from the rising floodwaters before making the 13-hour drive to Houston's Reliant Astrodome
, arriving on Wednesday evening. A day later a commercially licensed driver's bus filled with evacuees flipped, resulting in one death and many injuries after a passenger fought with the driver.
In a phone call to WWL radio made after the idle school and RTA buses were flooded, Mayor Nagin called for 500 Greyhound buses to be sent from outside the city to help evacuate. Coordination of transportation from outside the Parish is the responsibility of the Governor according to the State Evacuation Plan (Part 1 Section D). Governor Blanco
had yet to exercise this responsibility.
Some evacuees report that the drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge took anywhere from five hours to nine hours; this drive usually takes up to an hour. Reports from the Associated Press state that 80% of the near 500,000 had evacuated safely from New Orleans prior to the hurricane's landfall. Even if licensed drivers had been available and the available buses had been used to evacuate the remaining approximately 150,000 people, they may not have made it to safety before landfall.
This massive migration is the largest since the Dust Bowl
of the 1930s sent about 300,000 people from the Great Plains States to other regions of the U.S., most notably California.
In 1965, with passage of the Flood Control Act of 1965
, the United States Congress gave the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) the Federal responsibility for the design and construction of the flood protection in Greater New Orleans in the Pontchartrain Hurricane Protection Project, subject to appropriations and local participation, some of which was later waived. Local municipalities were designated the responsibility for maintenance once the projects were complete (source: GAO testimony summary attached).
When authorized, this Congressional mandate was projected to take 13 years to complete. When the flood protection system failed in 2005, the project was between 60-90% complete and the projected date of completion was estimated to be 2015, nearly 50 years after it first gained authorization from Congress.
The levees themselves were designed to protect New Orleans from a direct hit by a Category 3 hurricane. This decision was made by the Corps decades ago "based on a cost-benefit analysis", according to Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, USACE's Chief of Engineers
. However, when Hurricane Katrina passed east of New Orleans, it was a weakening Category 4 storm.
Questions have been raised about proper funding for the Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of many hurricane-protection programs across the United States. Sidney Blumenthal
, from the Clinton Administration, appeared as a guest on BBC
's The World
on September 1, 2005 stating that the Bush Administration had specifically diverted tens of millions of US dollars in the Corps of Engineers from water and storm protection efforts to be used instead by the Corps in Iraq. As a result, Blumenthal said, the Corps had performed only last-minute and substandard reinforcement of levees, some of which subsequently failed.
In February 2005, following in the tradition of past presidents, President Bush proposed cutting the Corps' budget by 7%, and in 2004 proposed a 13% cut.
Other questions have been raised about the design of the flood protection system itself. While the Corps has admitted fault for the failure of the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue outfall Canals, reports by the National Science Foundation/U.C. Berkeley and Team Louisiana cite inadequate design throughout the entire levee system.
New Orleans' emergency operations chief, Terry Ebbert, who worked with Mayor Ray Nagin before the hurricane and was part of the decision team which delayed the evacuation of the city standing thousands in New Orleans was later cited saying, "This is a national disgrace. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans," referring to the US humanitarian relief for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
.
s over to developers.
Louisiana has a long history, under both parties, of approving private developments in wetlands with consequent destruction of wetlands across coastal Louisiana. "Wetlands create friction and reduce high winds when hurricanes hit. They also absorb hurricane storm surges. Scientists estimate that every 2.7 miles of wetlands absorbs one foot of storm surge."
The Bush Administration, contrary to campaign promises and a wetland protection policy maintained since 1990, ended federal wetlands protection.
The storm surge that overcame New Orleans and the surrounding parishes would have been drastically reduced had wetlands been present to reduce said surge.
reported that "[i]nterviews with refugees in Houston, which is expecting many thousands of evacuees to remain, suggest that thousands of blacks who lost everything and had no insurance will end up living in Texas
or other U.S. states," and Forbes Magazine notes that "those left homeless will take part in the biggest internal migration of people since the days of the Dust Bowl
and the Great Depression
."
This and other reports suggest that the hurricane will have demographic consequences, particularly in and around Louisiana. Prior to the hurricane, Louisiana was one of a handful of states projected by the U.S. Census department to become a minority-majority state within the next two decades. Because a majority of displaced Louisiana residents are black, this occurrence will likely be delayed in Louisiana, but accelerated in nearby Florida
, Georgia
and Texas
.
It has been noted that the displacement of a significant portion of African Americans from Louisiana is likely to shift the politics of that state in a more conservative direction. Louisiana may also lose a vote in the Electoral College following the 2010 U.S. Census.
and later incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security, which placed high priority on counter-terrorism and disaster preparation. Some members of the International Association of Emergency Managers
had predicted that FEMA could not adequately respond to a catastrophe due to the integration and staffing overlaps. President Bush was criticized for appointing Michael D. Brown
as FEMA head. Prior to joining FEMA, Brown had no experience in disaster relief and had even been fired from his previous job as a supervisor of judging at the International Arabian Horse Association. After closer scrutiny prompted by FEMA's coordination efforts with local officials before Hurricane Katrina, it was found that Brown had "mis-represented" several of his credentials which lower staffers had not discovered when vetting him for Presidential appointment to his position. FEMA funding was affected by Hurricane Katrina by the proposal and passage of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act
, which requires states seeking FEMA assistance to accommodate pets and service animals in their plans for evacuating residents facing disasters.
received reconstruction and damage assessment contracts for naval facilities in Mississippi and New Orleans affected by Katrina. Kellogg Brown & Root, a former subsidiary of Halliburton
, is doing major repairs at Navy facilities along the Gulf Coast that were damaged by the hurricane. That work is being done under a $500 million contract with the Defense Department.
Other no-bid contract
s were awarded to the Fluor Corporation, a disaster recovery specialist company based in southern California, and The Shaw Group
of Baton Rouge, La. Shaw is a client of Joe M. Allbaugh
, a consultant with extensive emergency disaster training and was a former FEMA director. Shaw's CEO was chairman of Louisiana's Democratic party at the time. On 2005-09-13, officials vowed investigation of possible fraud and waste. The Shaw Group disclosed, in its annual report filed on July 5, that it is the subject of what the company describes as an "informal inquiry" by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as policy regarding any investigation, the SEC declined to comment. Federal securities class-action cases accused the Shaw Group and its executives of defrauding investors with misleading statements concerning the company's finances and management.
According to the Wall Street Journal (9/12/05), other companies that had received no-bid cost-plus contracts included Bechtel National, the government services arm of Bechtel Corporation which would provide temporary housing, Denver-based CH2M Hill
Cos. which would provide housing, and Kenyon Worldwide Disaster Management which would collect human remains. FEMA has primary responsibility for spending more than $50 billion in aid, 60 times its budget in 2003 in a relatively short time-frame to facilitate quick response to the disaster.
The Shaw Group, Inc., which won two federal rebuilding contracts, each worth $100 million, has a history of obtaining no-bid contracts through contacts to Democratic politicians in Louisiana. "Shaw's chief executive officer, Jim Bernhard "is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Shaw Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company," and Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. The Shaw group and Jim Bernhard is/was also a major supporter and contributor to Gov. Blanco and other Major Louisiana Democrat politicians.
Bernhard has since resigned as his position as the Louisiana as Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. Another Shaw executive, Jeff Jenkins, was the governor's campaign manager.
in the wake of the hurricane, with increased debate that global warming significantly increases the number and intensity of extreme weather events. The United Nations (UN) scientists responsible for the UN Global Warming report have categorically denied Global Warming had any impact on hurricane strength or frequency in the past fifty years. US weather reports and UC-Berkley scientists collaborate this finding.
Even more fanciful speculation asserted the hurricane was divine retribution
for any of a number of provocations, including politically issues such as the War in Iraq, (most famously by New Orleans' own mayor Ray Nagin
in a 2006 MLK day speech
), and U.S. pressure for the Israel
i withdrawal from Gaza
; and domestic issues such as abortion
, and tolerance for homosexuality
.
Political controversies and electoral consequences
Political disputes have arisen over several issues:Issues relating to the cause of the damage to New Orleans
- Whether the flood protection designed and built by the federal US Army Corps of Engineers was mis-engineered and should have held back the storm surge. This issue is complicated by a) the design goals given to the Corps of Engineers by state officials decades past did not request a 100-year flood level protection (which is nearly ten times as costly as a 50-year flood protection), and b) that over-topping of earthen levees will destroy them in a short time by their very design (this is not considered a "failure" by definition), but much more costly concrete levees should not fail in such situations without impact damage from debris which is possible, even under the water line. "Holding back the storm surge" is only possible for well-maintained levees of appropriate height and strength... the taller the levee, the more it can hold back, and the more it costs to build and maintain. The variation of weather and maintenance budgets makes finding the appropriate "threshold" difficult. Due to this "cost efficiency / diminishing returns" factor, and the weather forecasting ability the primary protection for any flood situation is the proper evacuation of flood-prone areas in a timely manner.
- Whether loss of coastal wetlands resulted in increased flooding further inland. This question was also brought up by the Mississippi Flood of 1996 which was blamed not only on excessive rainfall, but the extensive levee building along the river which attempted to reclaim flood plains for fertile farming area. Channeling flood waters via levees will increase storm serge height, and previous levees built may not be tall enough after surrounding areas develop levees. This debate plays directly into the fact that the lower 9th ward itself is a reclaimed wetland/swamp raising flood risk for others around Lake Pontchartrain, raising the ethical issue of rebuilding/pumping out the 9th ward after its flooding.
- Whether lax state environmental regulations for the storage of toxic chemicals has increased the contamination of flood waters.
Issues relating to government response
Long-term issues
- Whether the US Army Corps of Engineers needs reform in their design and construction policies
- Whether Congress needs reform in the way flood protection projects are chosen and funded
- Whether policies that affect the poor, such as bankruptcyBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
legislation, should be changed to make it easier for those in poverty to recover from such a disaster. - If electoral districtElectoral districtAn electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
changes will be necessary due to large migration of displaced people (e.g. reducing Louisiana's electoral college votes, and how many congressmen they may contribute to the House of Representatives). - The question of exclusive government assistance / compensation funds should be available to Katrina/Rita survivors similar to the funds set up for 9-11 survivors or whether existing social nets are sufficient.
Prevention and evacuation issues
According to the National Response PlanNational Response Plan
The National Response Plan was a United States national plan to respond to emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks. It came into effect in December 2004 , and was superseded by the National Response Framework on March 22, 2008....
, the Department of Homeland Security "will assume responsibility on March 1 [2005] for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort".
Many critics have noted that while Mayor Nagin gave a mandatory evacuation order on August 28, before the storm hit, they did not make sufficient prevention
Hazard prevention
Hazard prevention refers to the prevention of risks. The first and most effective stage of hazard prevention and emergency management is the elimination of hazards...
and provisions to evacuate the homeless, the poor, the elderly, the infirm, or the car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
-less households. Hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, were supposed to have pre-determined evacuation and/or refuge plans in place. Foreign nationals without transport claimed that the police refused to evacuate them, giving bus places only to American citizens.
Despite this, 90% of Greater New Orleans was evacuated- the most successful and complete evacuation of a US city since the American Civil War.
Prior to this, on August 27 the White House issued a statement, effective August 26, authorizing federal emergency assistance for Louisiana. The statement authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief and "...required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn." This includes all the parishes in the state of Louisiana except the coastal parishes which are inherently exposed to the most destructive forces of a hurricane. The President had not yet authorized FEMA to enter the coastal areas despite the governor's request including those parishes. The governor activated the National Guard with her August 26, State of Emergency Declaration Red Cross relief in New Orleans remains forbidden by the Governor.
According to the Louisiana Evacuation plan, evacuation was mainly left up to individual citizens to find their own way out of the city. It was known that many residents of New Orleans lacked cars. It is also believed that many citizens, having survived previous hurricanes, did not anticipate the impending catastrophe and chose to ride out the storm. Even so, a 2000 census revealed that 27% of New Orleans households, amounting to approximately 120,000 people, were without privately owned transportation. Additionally, at 38%, New Orleans has one of the highest poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
rates in the United States. These factors may have prevented many people from being able to evacuate on their own. Consequentially most of those stranded in the city are the poor, the elderly, and the sick.
State and city evacuation plans ( Part 1 Section C and part II-2) mention use of school buses for evacuation. With the following language: "The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Several hundred school buses were left parked on low ground where they would be easily flooded with storm water and then later by the levee flooding making their use impossible in the emergency evacuation. It is not clear whether these buses were owned by the city or by a private contractor to which the city had outsourced school bus services. Mayor Nagin testified in his hearing in Washington that those buses were owned by the school board and that he had no control over them. The precise number of buses available has been cited anywhere from a couple of hundred to a likely exaggerated 2,000.
During non-emergency times, drivers of school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
es must own and maintain a class D commercial license or better depending on the exact size and weight of the bus. During an emergency any driver is suitable as long as approved by the Governor. In spite of risks and his lack of formal training or license, 20-year-old Jabbar Gibson
Jabbar Gibson
Jabbar Gibson is a man who, on September 1, 2005, drove an abandoned New Orleans school bus after Hurricane Katrina from the flooded area to Houston, Texas, to rescue victims of the flooded city...
commandeered a New Orleans school bus and rescued 70 people from the rising floodwaters before making the 13-hour drive to Houston's Reliant Astrodome
Reliant Astrodome
Reliant Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium is part of the Reliant Park complex...
, arriving on Wednesday evening. A day later a commercially licensed driver's bus filled with evacuees flipped, resulting in one death and many injuries after a passenger fought with the driver.
In a phone call to WWL radio made after the idle school and RTA buses were flooded, Mayor Nagin called for 500 Greyhound buses to be sent from outside the city to help evacuate. Coordination of transportation from outside the Parish is the responsibility of the Governor according to the State Evacuation Plan (Part 1 Section D). Governor Blanco
Kathleen Blanco
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was the 54th Governor of Louisiana, having served from January 2004 until January 2008. She was the first woman to be elected to the office of governor of Louisiana....
had yet to exercise this responsibility.
Some evacuees report that the drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge took anywhere from five hours to nine hours; this drive usually takes up to an hour. Reports from the Associated Press state that 80% of the near 500,000 had evacuated safely from New Orleans prior to the hurricane's landfall. Even if licensed drivers had been available and the available buses had been used to evacuate the remaining approximately 150,000 people, they may not have made it to safety before landfall.
This massive migration is the largest since the Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
of the 1930s sent about 300,000 people from the Great Plains States to other regions of the U.S., most notably California.
New Orleans flood defenses
Early questions arose on why the flood protection system designed and built by the US Army Corps of Engineers failed catastrophically in 53 different places in metro New Orleans.In 1965, with passage of the Flood Control Act of 1965
Flood Control Act of 1965
The Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th Congress and authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct numerous flood control projects including the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project...
, the United States Congress gave the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) the Federal responsibility for the design and construction of the flood protection in Greater New Orleans in the Pontchartrain Hurricane Protection Project, subject to appropriations and local participation, some of which was later waived. Local municipalities were designated the responsibility for maintenance once the projects were complete (source: GAO testimony summary attached).
When authorized, this Congressional mandate was projected to take 13 years to complete. When the flood protection system failed in 2005, the project was between 60-90% complete and the projected date of completion was estimated to be 2015, nearly 50 years after it first gained authorization from Congress.
The levees themselves were designed to protect New Orleans from a direct hit by a Category 3 hurricane. This decision was made by the Corps decades ago "based on a cost-benefit analysis", according to Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, USACE's Chief of Engineers
Chief of Engineers
The Chief of Engineers commands the US Army Corps of Engineers. As a staff officer at The Pentagon, the Chief advises the Army on engineering matters and serves as the Army's topographer and the proponent for real estate and other related engineering programs....
. However, when Hurricane Katrina passed east of New Orleans, it was a weakening Category 4 storm.
Questions have been raised about proper funding for the Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of many hurricane-protection programs across the United States. Sidney Blumenthal
Sidney Blumenthal
Sidney Blumenthal is a former aide to President of the United States Bill Clinton and a widely published American journalist, especially on American politics and foreign policy....
, from the Clinton Administration, appeared as a guest on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's The World
The World (radio program)
PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a...
on September 1, 2005 stating that the Bush Administration had specifically diverted tens of millions of US dollars in the Corps of Engineers from water and storm protection efforts to be used instead by the Corps in Iraq. As a result, Blumenthal said, the Corps had performed only last-minute and substandard reinforcement of levees, some of which subsequently failed.
In February 2005, following in the tradition of past presidents, President Bush proposed cutting the Corps' budget by 7%, and in 2004 proposed a 13% cut.
Other questions have been raised about the design of the flood protection system itself. While the Corps has admitted fault for the failure of the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue outfall Canals, reports by the National Science Foundation/U.C. Berkeley and Team Louisiana cite inadequate design throughout the entire levee system.
New Orleans' emergency operations chief, Terry Ebbert, who worked with Mayor Ray Nagin before the hurricane and was part of the decision team which delayed the evacuation of the city standing thousands in New Orleans was later cited saying, "This is a national disgrace. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans," referring to the US humanitarian relief for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
.
Federal wetlands policy
There has been criticism of the federal policy, since 2003, of again turning wetlandWetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s over to developers.
Louisiana has a long history, under both parties, of approving private developments in wetlands with consequent destruction of wetlands across coastal Louisiana. "Wetlands create friction and reduce high winds when hurricanes hit. They also absorb hurricane storm surges. Scientists estimate that every 2.7 miles of wetlands absorbs one foot of storm surge."
The Bush Administration, contrary to campaign promises and a wetland protection policy maintained since 1990, ended federal wetlands protection.
The storm surge that overcame New Orleans and the surrounding parishes would have been drastically reduced had wetlands been present to reduce said surge.
Political effects of population displacement
In the days following the evacuation of New Orleans, ReutersReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reported that "[i]nterviews with refugees in Houston, which is expecting many thousands of evacuees to remain, suggest that thousands of blacks who lost everything and had no insurance will end up living in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
or other U.S. states," and Forbes Magazine notes that "those left homeless will take part in the biggest internal migration of people since the days of the Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
."
This and other reports suggest that the hurricane will have demographic consequences, particularly in and around Louisiana. Prior to the hurricane, Louisiana was one of a handful of states projected by the U.S. Census department to become a minority-majority state within the next two decades. Because a majority of displaced Louisiana residents are black, this occurrence will likely be delayed in Louisiana, but accelerated in nearby Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
It has been noted that the displacement of a significant portion of African Americans from Louisiana is likely to shift the politics of that state in a more conservative direction. Louisiana may also lose a vote in the Electoral College following the 2010 U.S. Census.
FEMA funding and leadership
Many local emergency managers defended FEMA, pointing out that the Bush Administration has since 9/11 reduced the agency's budget, mission, and status. FEMA, which was elevated to cabinet-level status under Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and later incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security, which placed high priority on counter-terrorism and disaster preparation. Some members of the International Association of Emergency Managers
International Association of Emergency Managers
The International Association of Emergency Managers is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting the goals of saving lives and protecting property during emergencies and disasters.-IAEM's Vision:...
had predicted that FEMA could not adequately respond to a catastrophe due to the integration and staffing overlaps. President Bush was criticized for appointing Michael D. Brown
Michael D. Brown
Michael DeWayne Brown was the first Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response , a division of the Department of Homeland Security . This position is generally referred to as the director or administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency . He was appointed in January 2003 by...
as FEMA head. Prior to joining FEMA, Brown had no experience in disaster relief and had even been fired from his previous job as a supervisor of judging at the International Arabian Horse Association. After closer scrutiny prompted by FEMA's coordination efforts with local officials before Hurricane Katrina, it was found that Brown had "mis-represented" several of his credentials which lower staffers had not discovered when vetting him for Presidential appointment to his position. FEMA funding was affected by Hurricane Katrina by the proposal and passage of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act
Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act
The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act was a bi-partisan initiative in the United States House of Representatives to require states seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance to accommodate pets and service animals in their plans for evacuating residents facing disasters...
, which requires states seeking FEMA assistance to accommodate pets and service animals in their plans for evacuating residents facing disasters.
Reports of contract awards
HalliburtonHalliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
received reconstruction and damage assessment contracts for naval facilities in Mississippi and New Orleans affected by Katrina. Kellogg Brown & Root, a former subsidiary of Halliburton
Halliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
, is doing major repairs at Navy facilities along the Gulf Coast that were damaged by the hurricane. That work is being done under a $500 million contract with the Defense Department.
Other no-bid contract
No-bid contract
The term "no-bid contract" is a popular phrase for what is officially known as a "sole source contract". A sole source contract implies that there is only one person or company that can provide the contractual services needed, and any attempt to obtain bids would only result in one person or...
s were awarded to the Fluor Corporation, a disaster recovery specialist company based in southern California, and The Shaw Group
The Shaw Group
The Shaw Group is a Fortune 500 corporation headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As of February 27, 2011, the company employed approximately 28,000 people all over the world with 7 billion dollar revenue in 2010...
of Baton Rouge, La. Shaw is a client of Joe M. Allbaugh
Joe Allbaugh
Joe M. Allbaugh is an American political figure in the Republican Party. After spending most of his career in Oklahoma and Texas, Allbaugh came to national prominence working for Texas governor George W. Bush and helping manage his 2000 presidential election campaign...
, a consultant with extensive emergency disaster training and was a former FEMA director. Shaw's CEO was chairman of Louisiana's Democratic party at the time. On 2005-09-13, officials vowed investigation of possible fraud and waste. The Shaw Group disclosed, in its annual report filed on July 5, that it is the subject of what the company describes as an "informal inquiry" by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as policy regarding any investigation, the SEC declined to comment. Federal securities class-action cases accused the Shaw Group and its executives of defrauding investors with misleading statements concerning the company's finances and management.
According to the Wall Street Journal (9/12/05), other companies that had received no-bid cost-plus contracts included Bechtel National, the government services arm of Bechtel Corporation which would provide temporary housing, Denver-based CH2M Hill
CH2M Hill
CH2M Hill is an American-based global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services for corporations, nonprofits, and federal, state, and local governments. The firm is headquartered in Meridian, an unincorporated area of Douglas County, Colorado in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan...
Cos. which would provide housing, and Kenyon Worldwide Disaster Management which would collect human remains. FEMA has primary responsibility for spending more than $50 billion in aid, 60 times its budget in 2003 in a relatively short time-frame to facilitate quick response to the disaster.
The Shaw Group, Inc., which won two federal rebuilding contracts, each worth $100 million, has a history of obtaining no-bid contracts through contacts to Democratic politicians in Louisiana. "Shaw's chief executive officer, Jim Bernhard "is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Shaw Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company," and Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. The Shaw group and Jim Bernhard is/was also a major supporter and contributor to Gov. Blanco and other Major Louisiana Democrat politicians.
Bernhard has since resigned as his position as the Louisiana as Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. Another Shaw executive, Jeff Jenkins, was the governor's campaign manager.
Speculations for the cause of Hurricane Katrina
Many commentators immediately began discussing global warmingGlobal warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
in the wake of the hurricane, with increased debate that global warming significantly increases the number and intensity of extreme weather events. The United Nations (UN) scientists responsible for the UN Global Warming report have categorically denied Global Warming had any impact on hurricane strength or frequency in the past fifty years. US weather reports and UC-Berkley scientists collaborate this finding.
Even more fanciful speculation asserted the hurricane was divine retribution
Hurricane Katrina as divine retribution
Various political and religious leaders have suggested that Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,836 people, was sent as a divine retribution for the sins of New Orleans, or of the South, or for the United States as a whole. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is said to have asserted in a speech on January...
for any of a number of provocations, including politically issues such as the War in Iraq, (most famously by New Orleans' own mayor Ray Nagin
Ray Nagin
Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is a former mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Nagin gained international note in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the New Orleans area....
in a 2006 MLK day speech
Chocolate City speech
The Chocolate City speech is the nickname that some people have given to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech by Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 16, 2006. The speech concerned race politics in New Orleans several months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city...
), and U.S. pressure for the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i withdrawal from Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
; and domestic issues such as abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, and tolerance for homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
.
See also
- Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006The Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 was a bill introduced in the United States Congress intended to prohibit the confiscation of legally possessed firearms during a disaster...
External links
- Levees.Org (non-profit in New Orleans)
- Preliminary Estimates of Commercial and Public Sector Damages (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
file)