Reconstruction of New Orleans
Encyclopedia
The Hurricane Katrina
in August 2005 caused significant problems due to the breach of the flood protection system designed after 1965
to protect the city. Over 204,000 homes in New Orleans were damaged or destroyed, and more than 800,000 citizens displaced
— the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl
of the 1930s. While the wind damage was not as severe as had been projected by meteorologists and most buildings survived intact, the failure of the levee
system caused extensive flooding in New Orleans and surrounding parish
es and resulted in extensive water damage to nearly 80% of all structures in Orleans Parish.
Reconstruction was hindered by bureaucratic problems and funding issues with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA; however, several relief agencies filled the gap. Contractors initially worked on easy work, and the homeless population increased. However, by mid-June 2006, the city was again hosting conventions and promoting tourism.
, the biggest U.S. port in terms of tonnage handled, was able to receive and service relief ships. It was estimated that resumption of commercial shipments would take at least 14 days.
repaired the 53 levee breaches including the Industrial Canal
, 17th Street Canal
, and London Avenue Canal
since shortly after the storm, and continues to work on mitigating the risk posed by flooding.
and the Environmental Protection Agency
in March 2006 declared all parts of New Orleans safe, no soil was contaminated and the air quality was pure.
Water and sewage was gradually restored. The first section of the city to have a "boil water" order lifted (in the high ground of the old crescent along the riverfront from the French Quarter to old Carrollton) was on 6 October 2005. The last section of the city to have such an order lifted (a section of the Lower 9th Ward) was on 9 October 2006.
Dennis Hastert
, questioned whether federal funds should pay to rebuild New Orleans. Others consider New Orleans's unique cultural heritage and history to be as important to the United States as, for instance, Venice is to Italy; they maintain that to not rebuild and reoccupy the city would be an immeasurable loss in that regard. The Times-Picayune ran a front page editorial arguing for national help. It has been argued that since the US Army Corps of Engineers has had oversight over the levee system since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
and most of the destruction in the city occurred due to the levee failure, the federal government should be responsible for rebuilding. Senator Mary Landrieu
said that Louisiana's off-shore petroleum
leases generate billions of dollars in revenues for the federal government's general fund, more than would be needed to restore wetlands and upgrade levee/flood control for South Louisiana to withstand category 5 storms. She argued that the federal government should either earmark some of that income for such projects or allow Louisiana to keep a significant portion of that revenue so the state could take care of its needs itself.
, the architect selected by the citizens of New Orleans and the New Orleans City Planning Commission to re-plan one third of the city for 40% of its population explained how the opportunity for rebuilding the city could be a chance to strengthen social justice and community life:
As lead planners for District 4, the district that includes the "largest concentration of public housing in the city" (Iberville, St. Bernard, Lafitte, and B. W. Cooper), Schwartz challenged his team to make "every effort to involve the residents and the community in the planning effort," while ensuring that the design of the new housing "could maintain the look and feel of surrounding neighborhoods with a mix of both modern interpretation of historic typologies and new urbanist models."
Relief agencies helped many returnees. The Red Cross made a belated significant entry into the city in mid-September; and by the start of October had a number of relief centers set up around the city. These provided hot meals, packaged food, bottled water and other supplies like diapers, mops, and dust-masks. The Salvation Army
also had many stations giving food. Temporary free clinics provided some medical care. Towards the end of 2005, the relief centers were wound down, starting with those in functioning parts of the city. Red Cross meals continued at a much smaller scale into 2006 from trucks traveling around the worst-hit and poorest neighborhoods.
The Southern Baptist Convention
sent feeding units to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast the day after Katrina struck New Orleans. Since this time, the Southern Baptist Convention
through its North American Mission Board
established an ongoing project called Operation Noah Rebuild, (not to be confused with the Operation Noah sponsored by the City of New Orleans) which has hosted thousands of volunteers and teams from all over the United States. The volunteer teams helped in the reconstruction efforts in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. First Baptist Church of New Orleans worked hand-in-hand with Habitat for Humanity with the Baptist Crossroads Project, in an effort to rebuild homes in the Upper Ninth Ward.
Food Not Bombs
was active in providing food early after the disaster. A community kitchen was set up first in Washington Square in Faubourg Marigny
; after a few months it was moved to a park by Bayou St. John before being closed down. A number of church groups and smaller charities set up aid stations for a time.
Common Ground Collective
had two relief centers in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans
, providing food, clothing, and a tool library. The larger center was in the Upper 9th Ward, with a smaller one in the worst hit part of the Lower 9th Ward. They also helped gutting houses.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began bringing in load after load of food and water for local members and residents is several areas of the city. Thousands of church members came in on rotating weekends to help cleanup debris, gut houses and cut up fallen trees all over the city. In addition to the home repairs, the Church full-time counselors to provide mental health assistance; and Church employment centers — offices that aid with finding jobs — opened their doors to everyone, regardless of religion.
Habitat for Humanity has been active in building homes at an accelerated pace since the storm. Initially, the organization had volunteers gutting homes; but since returned to its primary mission of fighting poverty housing. Catholic Charities
also was very active with volunteers repairing damaged houses and churches throughout the area. Camp Hope
in Violet, LA housed volunteers in the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort of St. Bernard Parish since June 1, 2006.
Build Now
is a non-profit organization that played an active part in bringing New Orleans families back home. The non-profit -- a licensed and insured residential contractor -- onstructed site-built, elevated houses on hurricane-damaged lots. The homes reflect the style and quality of traditional New Orleans architecture. Build Now brought more than a dozen New Orleans families back home, to include construction around the Lakeview, Gentilly and the Upper and Lower Ninth Ward areas. The organization moved New Orleans families back home since beginning operations in 2008.
The Jazz Foundation of America
is a non-profit organization that helped New Orleans musicians directly by paying the first month's rent for new homes, getting nearly $250,000 worth of donated instruments to musicians, giving pro bono counseling, advocacy, legal counseling, and creating a long term employment program that put displaced musicians back to work performing free concerts in schools and nursing homes, in 8 States. In 2005 The foundation held an auction to benefit musicians effected by Hurricane Katrina
Thanks to the generosity of the foundation's chairwoman, Ms. Agnes Varis
, they were able to create employment programs which have made it possible to keep the artists and their music alive in New Orleans.
" desertion of the city feared by some pessimists. In early 2006, the RAND Corporation estimated that, even in 2008, the city's population would only be little more than half what it was before the storm hit; however by July 2007 the city's population was estimated at about 2/3 (or close to 300,000 residents) of that before the disaster.
Even in 2009, many homes and homeowners were still devastated. Some organizations, like the state-wide Louisiana Disaster Relief Foundation or the neighborhood-based United Saints Recovery Project
are still working to provide support to homeowners in rebuilding their homes.
The areas with little or no flooding were the first to be officially reopened, have utilities restored, and a sizable portion of residents and businesses return.
Flooded-out areas presented more problems. The city had no comprehensive plan for what to do about flooded areas. Thousands of property owners have been gutting and repairing their property, some in the lowest lying areas of town. Contractors and workers from out-of-state and other countries came in great numbers doing demolition
and reconstruction
work, some filling hotels and rental property, others living in trailers
and tent cities set up in city parks and parking lots. Sportscaster Mike Tirico
incorrectly generalized on Monday Night Football
in September 2006, some areas, like the Lower Ninth Ward
and Gentilly
, still looked as badly damaged as the day the storm passed through. However, in each of those neighborhoods thousands of truckloads of debris were removed, hundreds of unsalvagable houses demolished, and work on gutting and repairs has been constant since the city has reopened.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of New Orleanians lived in the largely intact upper stories of their homes while the flood damaged downstairs got repaired, often being stripped to the wall joist
s in the process.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set up the "Blue Roof Program" of putting blue tarps
over damaged roofs. The tarps kept out rain until more permanent roof repairs could be made. Thousands of blue tarps were seen throughout the city; however, a number of official restrictionsmeant some residents were unable to benefit from this recovery program. Likewise, a number of subcontractors paid by the Corps only did "easy" low-pitch one-story roofs, choosing not to return to do more difficult roofs. Some New Orleanians lived for months in homes with sizable holes in their roofs. Among the popular handouts at Red Cross relief stations were 5-gallon buckets, many put to use as rain catchers. Six months after the storm, many of the hastily-placed blue roof tarps were in tatters, leaving those homes vulnerable again. Many people did not succeed in getting permanent roof repairs from such reasons as long waiting lists for reliable contractors and waits for insurance payment.
Seven months after the storm, two-thirds of the requested FEMA trailers (designed for short term emergency housing immediately after a disaster) had been delivered. Many of these trailers, however, could not be occupied or, if occupied, were not properly functional. Delays of weeks or months in hooking up electricity and water to trailers were common, and mechanical and bureaucratic problems prevented use of the trailers.
In June 2006, the State of Louisiana finally awarded a contract to DRC, Inc.
of Mobile, Alabama to remove thousands of abandoned cars strewn throughout New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
, Old Marigny, and Bywater), along with areas along natural ridges (such as Esplanade Ridge, Bayou St. John, Gentilly Ridge). Most of these older areas had no flooding at all or escaped serious flooding because of the raised design of older architecture which prevented floodwaters from entering homes. Another high area, much of which escaped serious flooding, was the set of Lake Shore developments between Lake Pontchartrain
and Robert E. Lee Boulevard, built at a higher level than nearby land from mid-20th century dredging.
Due to the direction of the storm and the movement of storm surge, the West Bank section of the city, Algiers was spared flooding and became the first part of the city itself to officially reopen to residents.
In neighboring Jefferson Parish
, the West Bank communities were similarly spared all but some wind damage (with a few spots of minor rain-generated flooding). On the East Bank, while parts of Metairie and other Jefferson communities experienced some flooding, due to lack of levee breaches this was much less severe than across the Parish line in Orleans (or the devastation of the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
which flooded most of Jefferson's East Bank).
Reconstruction of each section of the area has been addressed in the Army Corps LACPR Final Technical Report which identifies areas to not be rebuilt and areas buildings need to be elevated. The Technical Report includes locations of possible new levees; suggested existing levee modifications; "Inundation Zones"; "Water depths less than 14 feet, Raise-In-Place of Structures"; "Water depths greater than 14 feet, Buyout of Structures"; "Velocity Zones"; and "Buyout of Structures" areas for five different scenarios. The Corps of Engineers will submit the report to Congress for consideration, planning, and response in mid 2009.
A larger percentage of white residents returned to their homes than did black residents. This was attributed to an unwillingness of planners to rebuild low-income housing. The Wall Street Journal noted former 10-term Republican Congressman Richard H. Baker from Baton Rouge reportedly told lobbyists, "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did", which reflected a lack of concern for the lower income residents.
Large areas of the city's public housing
were targeted for demolition, inciting vocal protests from some, including architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff
.
There were also some workers who came from out of state for the post-Katrina rebuilding boom but who subsequently lost their jobs.
Compounding this problem, the number of beds for the homeless in the city decreased from a count of 2,800 before the storm, to 2,000, as of May 2008.
The New Orleans Legal Assistance Coorporation's Homeless Department worked overtime in January 2009 and reevaluated the homelessness rate. They found that the post-Katrina homeless population decreased by 64% since the last survey two years previously.
s were the first businesses to reopen in many areas; two remained open in the French Quarter even during the worst of the storm and the official mandatory evacuation. Most other businesses, such as gas stations, supermarkets, appliance stores, and restaurants, followed somewhat later as they required more work before they could reopen. Some of the few businesses to do significantly better business after Katrina than before were new car dealers. Flooding totaled an estimated 200,000 vehicles in Metro New Orleans, and dealers able to get in shipments of new cars quickly found customers. After local reporters found a used car dealer selling partially cleaned up flooded cars with restored engines but still soggy trunks, the state legislature quickly passed legislation mandating that cars declared totaled must be dismantled, crushed, or otherwise disposed of and could not be resold.
Three months after the storm, most open restaurants were serving food and drink in disposable plates and cups because of the shortage of dishwashers. Despite many restaurants offering wages double pre-Katrina levels for dishwashers, there were few takers as untrained laborers were able to make more money in demolition- and reconstruction-related industries. Ten months later, things had improved, though there were still labor shortages in many service industries.
held its annual convention in New Orleans in June 2006; the estimated 18,000 attendees represented the first city-wide convention in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. The National Association of Realtors
also held their annual convention in New Orleans bringing 30,000 attendees to the city in November, 2006. The HIMSS healthcare information technology convention and the American College of Cardiology
convention, both held in the spring of 2007, each had more than 24,000 attendees. The Essence Music Festival
returned to the Crescent City in July 2007 after being displaced to Houston in 2006. Several national travel guides have once again listed New Orleans as one of the top five places to visit in the country.
The Bayou Classic
, the traditional football game between Southern University
and Grambling State University
, returned in November 2006 after being displaced to Houston, Texas
for its 2005 game. The National Football League
made a commitment to the city with the return of the New Orleans Saints
, following speculation of a move to San Antonio, Texas
, or Los Angeles, California
. The National Basketball Association
has made a commitment with the return of the New Orleans Hornets, which played in both New Orleans and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
in the 2006-2007 season, returning fully for the 2007-2008 season. (Oklahoma City
became a permanent member of the NBA in the 2008-2009 season.) New Orleans was granted the 2008 NBA All Star Game, which usually generates millions of dollars in revenue for the host city. Tulane University
hosted the first and second rounds of the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
. The Superdome has since hosted several college football bowl games. The New Orleans Bowl
resumed in December 2006, and the Sugar Bowl
and 2008 BCS National Championship Game
took in January 2008. New Orleans is going to host the Super Bowl in 2013, the first-time since Hurricane Katrina. On February 2010, the New Orleans Saints
won the Super Bowl XLIV
. There is heavy speculation that New Orleans plans to run for an Olympic
bid at 2024 at the earliest.
In mid-March 2007 a local group of investors began conducting a study to see if the city could support a Major League Soccer
team.
Major seasonal events such as Mardi Gras
and the Jazz and Heritage Festival were never displaced, occurring at other times of year.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in August 2005 caused significant problems due to the breach of the flood protection system designed after 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...
to protect the city. Over 204,000 homes in New Orleans were damaged or destroyed, and more than 800,000 citizens displaced
IDPs in the United States
There are about 1,000,000 internally displaced persons in the United States.These are people from the Gulf States region in the southern United States, most notably New Orleans, Louisiana, collectively known as the New Orleans diaspora, who have been forced to leave their homes due to the...
— the greatest displacement in the United States 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. While the wind damage was not as severe as had been projected by meteorologists and most buildings survived intact, the failure of the levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
system caused extensive flooding in New Orleans and surrounding parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es and resulted in extensive water damage to nearly 80% of all structures in Orleans Parish.
Reconstruction was hindered by bureaucratic problems and funding issues with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA; however, several relief agencies filled the gap. Contractors initially worked on easy work, and the homeless population increased. However, by mid-June 2006, the city was again hosting conventions and promoting tourism.
Reconstruction
By Monday, September 5, 2005 power began to be restored to buildings in the central business district of New Orleans on a priority basis. By Tuesday, September 6, 2005 the Port of New OrleansPort of New Orleans
The Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 1st in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 13th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
, the biggest U.S. port in terms of tonnage handled, was able to receive and service relief ships. It was estimated that resumption of commercial shipments would take at least 14 days.
Levee and pump repairs
The Corps of EngineersUnited States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
repaired the 53 levee breaches including the Industrial Canal
Industrial Canal
The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal...
, 17th Street Canal
17th Street Canal
The 17th Street Canal is a drainage canal in Greater New Orleans, Louisiana, that flows into Lake Pontchartrain. The canal forms a significant portion of the boundary between the city of New Orleans and Metairie, Louisiana...
, and London Avenue Canal
London Avenue Canal
The London Avenue Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, used for pumping rain water into Lake Pontchartrain. The Canal runs through the 7th Ward of New Orleans from the Gentilly area to the Lakefront....
since shortly after the storm, and continues to work on mitigating the risk posed by flooding.
Utilities
Testing found the floodwaters were not unusual. The Louisiana Department of Environmental QualityLouisiana Department of Environmental Quality
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is a state agency of Louisiana that monitors the environment of the state. It is headquartered in the Galvez Building in Downtown Baton Rouge.-External links:*...
and the Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
in March 2006 declared all parts of New Orleans safe, no soil was contaminated and the air quality was pure.
Water and sewage was gradually restored. The first section of the city to have a "boil water" order lifted (in the high ground of the old crescent along the riverfront from the French Quarter to old Carrollton) was on 6 October 2005. The last section of the city to have such an order lifted (a section of the Lower 9th Ward) was on 9 October 2006.
Federal funding debate
Some people, including former Speaker of the HouseSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
, questioned whether federal funds should pay to rebuild New Orleans. Others consider New Orleans's unique cultural heritage and history to be as important to the United States as, for instance, Venice is to Italy; they maintain that to not rebuild and reoccupy the city would be an immeasurable loss in that regard. The Times-Picayune ran a front page editorial arguing for national help. It has been argued that since the US Army Corps of Engineers has had oversight over the levee system since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States.-Events:The flood began when heavy rains pounded the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to...
and most of the destruction in the city occurred due to the levee failure, the federal government should be responsible for rebuilding. Senator Mary Landrieu
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
said that Louisiana's off-shore petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
leases generate billions of dollars in revenues for the federal government's general fund, more than would be needed to restore wetlands and upgrade levee/flood control for South Louisiana to withstand category 5 storms. She argued that the federal government should either earmark some of that income for such projects or allow Louisiana to keep a significant portion of that revenue so the state could take care of its needs itself.
Rebuilding, social justice, and community life
Frederic SchwartzFrederic Schwartz
Frederic Schwartz is an American architect, author, and city planner whose work includes "Empty Sky," the New Jersey 9-11 Memorial, scheduled to be dedicated in Liberty State Park on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.A recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize in...
, the architect selected by the citizens of New Orleans and the New Orleans City Planning Commission to re-plan one third of the city for 40% of its population explained how the opportunity for rebuilding the city could be a chance to strengthen social justice and community life:
The planning of cities in the face of disaster (natural and political) must reach beyond the band-aid of short-term recovery. Disaster offers a unique opportunity to rethink the planning and politics of our metro-regional areas -- it is a chance to redefine our cities and to reassert values of environmental care and social justice, of community building and especially of helping the poor with programs for quality, affordable, and sustainable housing.
As lead planners for District 4, the district that includes the "largest concentration of public housing in the city" (Iberville, St. Bernard, Lafitte, and B. W. Cooper), Schwartz challenged his team to make "every effort to involve the residents and the community in the planning effort," while ensuring that the design of the new housing "could maintain the look and feel of surrounding neighborhoods with a mix of both modern interpretation of historic typologies and new urbanist models."
Relief agencies
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
also had many stations giving food. Temporary free clinics provided some medical care. Towards the end of 2005, the relief centers were wound down, starting with those in functioning parts of the city. Red Cross meals continued at a much smaller scale into 2006 from trucks traveling around the worst-hit and poorest neighborhoods.
The Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
sent feeding units to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast the day after Katrina struck New Orleans. Since this time, the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
through its North American Mission Board
North American Mission Board
The North American Mission Board is the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. It exists to assist Southern Baptists in their task of fulfilling the Great Commission in the United States, Canada, and their territories through a national strategy for sharing Christ, starting...
established an ongoing project called Operation Noah Rebuild, (not to be confused with the Operation Noah sponsored by the City of New Orleans) which has hosted thousands of volunteers and teams from all over the United States. The volunteer teams helped in the reconstruction efforts in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. First Baptist Church of New Orleans worked hand-in-hand with Habitat for Humanity with the Baptist Crossroads Project, in an effort to rebuild homes in the Upper Ninth Ward.
Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, serving free vegan and vegetarian food to others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance...
was active in providing food early after the disaster. A community kitchen was set up first in Washington Square in Faubourg Marigny
Faubourg Marigny
The Marigny is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Bywater District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: North Rampart Street and St...
; after a few months it was moved to a park by Bayou St. John before being closed down. A number of church groups and smaller charities set up aid stations for a time.
Common Ground Collective
Common Ground Collective
The Common Ground Collective is a decentralized network of non-profit organizations offering support to the residents of New Orleans. It was formed in the Algiers neighborhood of the city in the days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.-History:...
had two relief centers in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans
Ninth Ward of New Orleans
The Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana that is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city. It is geographically the largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans....
, providing food, clothing, and a tool library. The larger center was in the Upper 9th Ward, with a smaller one in the worst hit part of the Lower 9th Ward. They also helped gutting houses.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began bringing in load after load of food and water for local members and residents is several areas of the city. Thousands of church members came in on rotating weekends to help cleanup debris, gut houses and cut up fallen trees all over the city. In addition to the home repairs, the Church full-time counselors to provide mental health assistance; and Church employment centers — offices that aid with finding jobs — opened their doors to everyone, regardless of religion.
Habitat for Humanity has been active in building homes at an accelerated pace since the storm. Initially, the organization had volunteers gutting homes; but since returned to its primary mission of fighting poverty housing. Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities is a network of charities whose aim is "to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire church and other people of good will to do the same." It is one of the largest charities in the United States...
also was very active with volunteers repairing damaged houses and churches throughout the area. Camp Hope
Camp Hope
Camp Hope , is a volunteer base camp located in a former school in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Camp Hope has welcomed people from all over the United States and all over the world who have come to participate in the massive recovery efforts of St...
in Violet, LA housed volunteers in the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort of St. Bernard Parish since June 1, 2006.
Build Now
Build Now is a non-profit organization located in New Orleans, Louisiana, that works with clients whose homes were destroyed as a result of Hurricane Katrina to build new homes on their property. Build Now was founded by New Orleans native, William Monaghan and is now directed by his daughter Tess...
is a non-profit organization that played an active part in bringing New Orleans families back home. The non-profit -- a licensed and insured residential contractor -- onstructed site-built, elevated houses on hurricane-damaged lots. The homes reflect the style and quality of traditional New Orleans architecture. Build Now brought more than a dozen New Orleans families back home, to include construction around the Lakeview, Gentilly and the Upper and Lower Ninth Ward areas. The organization moved New Orleans families back home since beginning operations in 2008.
The Jazz Foundation of America
Jazz Foundation of America
The Jazz Foundation of America is a non-profit organization based in Manhattan, New York founded in 1989. The JFA’s programs help jazz and blues musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunities in schools and the community...
is a non-profit organization that helped New Orleans musicians directly by paying the first month's rent for new homes, getting nearly $250,000 worth of donated instruments to musicians, giving pro bono counseling, advocacy, legal counseling, and creating a long term employment program that put displaced musicians back to work performing free concerts in schools and nursing homes, in 8 States. In 2005 The foundation held an auction to benefit musicians effected by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
Thanks to the generosity of the foundation's chairwoman, Ms. Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis was founder and president of Agvar Chemicals Inc. and Aegis Pharmaceuticals....
, they were able to create employment programs which have made it possible to keep the artists and their music alive in New Orleans.
Repopulation and restoring homes
Repopulating the city has been steady but gradual, with neither the rapid return of most evacuees hoped for by some optimists nor the long term "ghost townGhost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
" desertion of the city feared by some pessimists. In early 2006, the RAND Corporation estimated that, even in 2008, the city's population would only be little more than half what it was before the storm hit; however by July 2007 the city's population was estimated at about 2/3 (or close to 300,000 residents) of that before the disaster.
Even in 2009, many homes and homeowners were still devastated. Some organizations, like the state-wide Louisiana Disaster Relief Foundation or the neighborhood-based United Saints Recovery Project
United Saints Recovery Project
United Saints Recovery Project is a 501 non-profit located in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Its founder, Daryl Kiesow, first came down to New Orleans with Mission from Minnesota in December 2005 to volunteer as a roofer in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; he intended to...
are still working to provide support to homeowners in rebuilding their homes.
The areas with little or no flooding were the first to be officially reopened, have utilities restored, and a sizable portion of residents and businesses return.
Flooded-out areas presented more problems. The city had no comprehensive plan for what to do about flooded areas. Thousands of property owners have been gutting and repairing their property, some in the lowest lying areas of town. Contractors and workers from out-of-state and other countries came in great numbers doing demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
and reconstruction
Reconstruction (architecture)
Reconstruction is a term in architectural conservation whose precise meaning varies, depending on the context in which they are used.More broadly, such as under the Burra Charter of Australia, "reconstruction" means returning a damaged building to a known earlier state by the introduction of new...
work, some filling hotels and rental property, others living in trailers
Mobile home
Mobile homes or static caravans are prefabricated homes built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied...
and tent cities set up in city parks and parking lots. Sportscaster Mike Tirico
Mike Tirico
Michael Todd Tirico is an announcer for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that...
incorrectly generalized on Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
in September 2006, some areas, like the Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal; however, the City Planning Commission divides this...
and Gentilly
Gentilly, New Orleans
Gentilly is a broad, predominantly middle-class and racially diverse section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The first part of Gentilly to be developed was along the Gentilly Ridge, a long stretch of high ground along the former banks of Bayou Gentilly...
, still looked as badly damaged as the day the storm passed through. However, in each of those neighborhoods thousands of truckloads of debris were removed, hundreds of unsalvagable houses demolished, and work on gutting and repairs has been constant since the city has reopened.
Joist
A joist, in architecture and engineering, is one of the horizontal supporting members that run from wall to wall, wall to beam, or beam to beam to support a ceiling, roof, or floor. It may be made of wood, steel, or concrete. Typically, a beam is bigger than, and is thus distinguished from, a joist...
s in the process.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set up the "Blue Roof Program" of putting blue tarps
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
over damaged roofs. The tarps kept out rain until more permanent roof repairs could be made. Thousands of blue tarps were seen throughout the city; however, a number of official restrictionsmeant some residents were unable to benefit from this recovery program. Likewise, a number of subcontractors paid by the Corps only did "easy" low-pitch one-story roofs, choosing not to return to do more difficult roofs. Some New Orleanians lived for months in homes with sizable holes in their roofs. Among the popular handouts at Red Cross relief stations were 5-gallon buckets, many put to use as rain catchers. Six months after the storm, many of the hastily-placed blue roof tarps were in tatters, leaving those homes vulnerable again. Many people did not succeed in getting permanent roof repairs from such reasons as long waiting lists for reliable contractors and waits for insurance payment.
In June 2006, the State of Louisiana finally awarded a contract to DRC, Inc.
DRC, Inc.
DRC, Inc. is a hurricane debris removal company headquartered in Mobile, Alabama.-Background:DRC, Inc. was originally founded in 1989 in South Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo. The company has performed contracts in most of the hurricane and natural disasters throughout the southeastern...
of Mobile, Alabama to remove thousands of abandoned cars strewn throughout New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Differing circumstances
Reconstruction has been easiest and quickest in the areas least damaged by the storm, mostly corresponding to the parts of the city developed before about 1900. These areas were built on naturally higher ground along the River front (such as Old Carrollton, Uptown, the Old Warehouse District, the French QuarterFrench Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
, Old Marigny, and Bywater), along with areas along natural ridges (such as Esplanade Ridge, Bayou St. John, Gentilly Ridge). Most of these older areas had no flooding at all or escaped serious flooding because of the raised design of older architecture which prevented floodwaters from entering homes. Another high area, much of which escaped serious flooding, was the set of Lake Shore developments between Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
and Robert E. Lee Boulevard, built at a higher level than nearby land from mid-20th century dredging.
Due to the direction of the storm and the movement of storm surge, the West Bank section of the city, Algiers was spared flooding and became the first part of the city itself to officially reopen to residents.
In neighboring Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
, the West Bank communities were similarly spared all but some wind damage (with a few spots of minor rain-generated flooding). On the East Bank, while parts of Metairie and other Jefferson communities experienced some flooding, due to lack of levee breaches this was much less severe than across the Parish line in Orleans (or the devastation of the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane was an intense Category 5 hurricane that affected the Bahamas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in September of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season...
which flooded most of Jefferson's East Bank).
Reconstruction of each section of the area has been addressed in the Army Corps LACPR Final Technical Report which identifies areas to not be rebuilt and areas buildings need to be elevated. The Technical Report includes locations of possible new levees; suggested existing levee modifications; "Inundation Zones"; "Water depths less than 14 feet, Raise-In-Place of Structures"; "Water depths greater than 14 feet, Buyout of Structures"; "Velocity Zones"; and "Buyout of Structures" areas for five different scenarios. The Corps of Engineers will submit the report to Congress for consideration, planning, and response in mid 2009.
A larger percentage of white residents returned to their homes than did black residents. This was attributed to an unwillingness of planners to rebuild low-income housing. The Wall Street Journal noted former 10-term Republican Congressman Richard H. Baker from Baton Rouge reportedly told lobbyists, "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did", which reflected a lack of concern for the lower income residents.
Large areas of the city's public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
were targeted for demolition, inciting vocal protests from some, including architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff
Nicolai Ouroussoff
Nicolai Ouroussoff is the architecture critic for The New York Times.-Biography:Born in Boston, Massachusetts United States, he received a bachelor’s degree in Russian from Georgetown University and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of ArchitectureThe protégé of the...
.
Homeless residents
A challenge facing New Orleans was the exceptionally large homeless population created by Katrina. The number of homeless people living in New Orleans doubled to 12,000 people between the hurricane and mid-2007. With a post-Katrina population of 300,000 people, this meant that 1 in 25 people were homeless, an extremely high number and nearly three times that of any other US city. Most of the homeless were Katrina evacuees who returned to higher rents or who fell through the cracks of the federal system that was to provide temporary housing after the disaster.There were also some workers who came from out of state for the post-Katrina rebuilding boom but who subsequently lost their jobs.
Compounding this problem, the number of beds for the homeless in the city decreased from a count of 2,800 before the storm, to 2,000, as of May 2008.
The New Orleans Legal Assistance Coorporation's Homeless Department worked overtime in January 2009 and reevaluated the homelessness rate. They found that the post-Katrina homeless population decreased by 64% since the last survey two years previously.
Businesses
BarBar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
s were the first businesses to reopen in many areas; two remained open in the French Quarter even during the worst of the storm and the official mandatory evacuation. Most other businesses, such as gas stations, supermarkets, appliance stores, and restaurants, followed somewhat later as they required more work before they could reopen. Some of the few businesses to do significantly better business after Katrina than before were new car dealers. Flooding totaled an estimated 200,000 vehicles in Metro New Orleans, and dealers able to get in shipments of new cars quickly found customers. After local reporters found a used car dealer selling partially cleaned up flooded cars with restored engines but still soggy trunks, the state legislature quickly passed legislation mandating that cars declared totaled must be dismantled, crushed, or otherwise disposed of and could not be resold.
Three months after the storm, most open restaurants were serving food and drink in disposable plates and cups because of the shortage of dishwashers. Despite many restaurants offering wages double pre-Katrina levels for dishwashers, there were few takers as untrained laborers were able to make more money in demolition- and reconstruction-related industries. Ten months later, things had improved, though there were still labor shortages in many service industries.
Tourism and events
The American Library AssociationAmerican Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
held its annual convention in New Orleans in June 2006; the estimated 18,000 attendees represented the first city-wide convention in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. The National Association of Realtors
National Association of Realtors
The National Association of Realtors , whose members are known as Realtors, is North America's largest trade association. representing over 1.2 million members , including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries...
also held their annual convention in New Orleans bringing 30,000 attendees to the city in November, 2006. The HIMSS healthcare information technology convention and the American College of Cardiology
American College of Cardiology
The American College of Cardiology is a nonprofit medical association established in 1949 to advocate for quality cardiovascular care through education, research promotion, development and application of standards and guidelines, and to influence health care policy...
convention, both held in the spring of 2007, each had more than 24,000 attendees. The Essence Music Festival
Essence Music Festival
Essence Music Festival is an annual music festival celebrating contemporary African American music and culture. It is the largest event celebrating African American culture and music in the United States. It has been held in New Orleans, Louisiana every year since 1995 except for 2006, where it...
returned to the Crescent City in July 2007 after being displaced to Houston in 2006. Several national travel guides have once again listed New Orleans as one of the top five places to visit in the country.
The Bayou Classic
Bayou Classic
The State Farm Bayou Classic is the annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held under that name in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, although the series itself actually began in 1936...
, the traditional football game between Southern University
Southern University
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...
and Grambling State University
Grambling State University
Grambling State University is a historically black , public, coeducational university, located in Grambling, Louisiana. The university is the home of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and is on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.-Academics:Grambling State University provides over...
, returned in November 2006 after being displaced to Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
for its 2005 game. The National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
made a commitment to the city with the return of the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
, following speculation of a move to San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, or Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
has made a commitment with the return of the New Orleans Hornets, which played in both New Orleans and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
in the 2006-2007 season, returning fully for the 2007-2008 season. (Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ; their home court is at Chesapeake Energy Arena....
became a permanent member of the NBA in the 2008-2009 season.) New Orleans was granted the 2008 NBA All Star Game, which usually generates millions of dollars in revenue for the host city. Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
hosted the first and second rounds of the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
. The Superdome has since hosted several college football bowl games. The New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans Bowl
The New Orleans Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. The game was sponsored by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2002 to 2004 and was officially called the Wyndham New...
resumed in December 2006, and the Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...
and 2008 BCS National Championship Game
2008 BCS National Championship Game
The 2008 Allstate BCS National Championship Game was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 7, 2008, and featured the #1 and #2 college football teams in the United States as determined by the BCS Poll to decide the BCS National Championship for the 2007...
took in January 2008. New Orleans is going to host the Super Bowl in 2013, the first-time since Hurricane Katrina. On February 2010, the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
won the Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
. There is heavy speculation that New Orleans plans to run for an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
bid at 2024 at the earliest.
In mid-March 2007 a local group of investors began conducting a study to see if the city could support a Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
team.
Major seasonal events such as Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
and the Jazz and Heritage Festival were never displaced, occurring at other times of year.
See also
- Bring New Orleans Back CommissionBring New Orleans Back CommissionThe Bring New Orleans Back Commission was established by Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, Louisiana, after the flooding caused by a major civil engineering failure in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Aside from one Hispanic, the membership of the commission is half black and half white...
- Civil engineering and infrastructure repair in New Orleans after Hurricane KatrinaCivil engineering and infrastructure repair in New Orleans after Hurricane KatrinaThough Hurricane Katrina did not deal the city of New Orleans a direct hit on August 29, 2005, her storm surge precipitated catastrophic failures of the levees and flood walls. The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet breached its levees in approximately 20 places...
- Seabrook Floodgate
- Musicians' VillageMusicians' VillageMusicians' Village is a new neighborhood built around a music center where musicians can teach and perform. Musicians Harry Connick, Jr...
External links
- Stress and Trauma Relief Workshops in New Orleans offered for free and at reduced costs by the International Association for Human Values
- United Saints Recovery Project is a volunteer organization that provides rebuilding and recovery for homeowners in New Orleans, mainly in the Central City neighborhood
- Common Ground Collective
- Providence Community Housing, a leading non-profit housing development group
- NYT: Storm and Crisis
- Life In New Orleans - Katrina Aftermath Pictures : 1 month after Hurricane Katrina
- Dennis Hastert's comments
- Times Picayune editorial
- A photographic survey of New Orleans in the winter and spring of 2006 from www.psychogeo.com
- Independent Levee Investigation Team Draft Report
- Repopulating New Orleans
- KatrinaAction.org - The Katrina Information Network
- Habitat For Humanity - New Orleans
- Camp Hope
- Professor lauded for New Orleans recovery work
- New Orleans Neighborhoods Rebuilding Plan
- Project: Katrina Volunteers
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/opinion/l11orleans.html
- For the Right of Return article about destruction of public housing in New Orleans from [Dollars & Sense] magazine, January/February 2008
- Dorothy Moye, "The X-Codes: A Post-Katrina Postscript", Southern Spaces, 26 August 2009. http://southernspaces.org/2009/x-codes-post-katrina-postscript
Corruption accusations
- Study: U.S. double-billed for Katrina work, APAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, May 4, 2006 - Fed Inspectors: Katrina Contracts Wasteful, APAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, April 20, 2006 - Multiple Layers Of Contractors Drive Up Cost of Katrina Cleanup, Washington Post, March 20, 2006
- Lobbyists Advise Katrina Relief, LA Times, October 10, 2005
- No-Bid Contracts Win Katrina Work, Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2005
- Destruction of Public Housing, December 3, 2007