August 29,2005. Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. 80% of the city was flooded, levees broke, and many people died. The government issued demands to evacuate but many people didn't leave. As I said, people have been here for generations & didn't want to leave. Or, they felt that they could withstand the storm, as they have done in the past. The water levels were as high as 25' in some areas. There are lines on the homes that still remain, to show how high the water level was. People waited too long to evacuate & climbed into their attics. Some were able to cut a hole out of their roof to be picked up by rescuers. Some were not able to. The Lower 9th Ward was the hardest hit area of New Orleans.
There has been a ton of criticism over the Hurricane, warnings to people in the area, response to rescue, clean-up, etc. When you look back at history though, we started building below sea-level back when we purchased Louisiana. We built levees to hold back the water - essentially manipulating nature. The levees weren't built properly to spec & there were no checks and balances in place to ensure they would hold during a storm.
FEMA and the Gov of LA blame each other for not warning people & evacuating people fast enough, with enough lead time, etc. Everyone blames the government for not acting quickly enough. Why were cars still in trees 6 mos after the storm? Why did the Lower 9th not have fully restored electricity until 2006?
(Foundations where homes once were)
At this point, government funds and private donations have pretty much run out. Five years after the storm, people are still displaced and need help. We were told that volunteers are the resources making it all happen.
The Make It Right Foundation was founded by Brad Pitt. His organization has pledged to build 150 homes that are eco-friendly and on stilts to avoid future flooding. To date, he has only built about 30 homes due to funding & permit issues.
(Make It Right home)
We were not rebuilding in the Lower 9th. We were in other areas. There is a lot of controversy over rebuilding in the Lower 9th. The levees were rebuilt, but will they hold? We have only had three Category 3 storms in 150 years - so are we really at risk for another one? Will global warming have an affect on the weather & crazy storms?
But, it's not just the Lower 9th. It's all parts of NOLA that are at risk for another levee breach, another storm. So what do we do - not let people live there? Then, you might as well close off most of the country as places that are too unsafe to live....Mississippi, Florida, The Bay Area due to earth quakes. Heck - the entire state of CA for the wildfires & quakes. North Carolina for hurricanes. The mid-west for tornados. Where does it stop? Is it right to want to not re-build someone's home?
The entire group shot! It was taken by one of the students who sat on top of the levee and took it!
There are a lot of unanswered questions & things to think about surrounding Hurricane Katrina. This trip definitely opened my eyes to what is going on, right in the US. People getting scammed by contractors, living in trailers, homeless, etc. I learned some other things & definitely feel changed by this trip....
2 comments:
this is so awesome you were able to do this! it's so sad that the 9th ward is still in such bad shape more than five years later. i had friends from college who grew up in the lower 9th. new orleans itself holds a special place in my heart having visited there so often during my youth. you're so great to have volunteered for a week to help people get back on their feet!
I absolutely loved it & cannot wait to go back. I would fly down tomorrow if I could. We are going to try a service project every year!
How lucky you are to have visited so often as a kid!!
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