The direct and indirect death toll of Katrina reached 4,081 people
The people we met in New Orleans overall were friendly and we were frequently shown Southern Hospitality. One of my favorite experiences, in a way that was humbling and reminds you of some of the harsh realities, was visiting the Lower 9th Ward Museum. The Lower 9th Ward was a neighborhood destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and it is still working to recover. It has received attention due to a lack of appropriate response. The neighborhood was already facing risk with white flight and the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy in 1965. However, there was and continues to be a strong sense of community with diverse residents of African American, Italian, German, and Irish background.
Officials have acknowledged that the levee system was flawed before Hurricane Katrina hit and that the federal and state response afterwards was lacking. In 2004, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted a simulation called Hurricane Pam that predicted 61,000 deaths if a direct hurricane hit. According to the the Army Corps of Engineers, the Louisiana hurricane protection system was an “inconsistent patchwork of protection, containing flaws in design and construction, and not build to handle a hurricane anywhere near the size of Katrina.” Yet, because of the levee system FEMA had zoned areas like the Lower 9th Ward as “low risk” and many housing lenders did not require flood insurance, leaving people unable to repair their homes. In actuality, the direct and indirect death toll of Katrina reached 4,081 people.
”The forgotten people of the Lower Ninth refuse to be forgotten any longer.” - Resident Betty Stewart
Before the Hurricane, poor choices were made in order to prepare. Pipelines laid by oil and natural gas companies sunk wetlands further. The levees were installed in response, which prevented the river’s silt from depositing in the ocean, besides being ineffective, as mentioned earlier. $20 million of federal funds were provided a few years earlier in order to create an evacuation plan, that was never implemented. Mayor Nagin, 2 months before the hurricane, distributed DVDs to inform poor residents in particular that they would be on their own in the case of an evacuation. Additionally in the days leading up to the hurricane, he sent Amtrak trains out of the city that were empty, did not use buses that were available, and waited to issue a mandatory evacuation over concern of lawsuits from local businesses. He ordered law enforcement officers to focus on protecting property instead. While Governor Bianco created a “shoot to kill” to deal with “hoodlums” with inflated reports of looting. Another issue was with the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Canal, which connected the Gulf of Mexico and the Industrial Canal and is nicknamed “Hurricane Highway.” Built in 1968, Army Corps officials already knew in 1988 “that the MRGO threatened human life.” It was ordered to be filled in 2009 when this information was revealed in a federal court.
Besides the issues with evacuation, people were left behind at evacuation sites and suffered poor conditions. There were 30,000 people in the SuperDome. They faced such horrible conditions that one man committed suicide while 5 more died, mainly from natural causes. Another 20,000 people stayed in the Convention Center. The federal government did not even know this was an evacuation site until 3 days after the hurricane. Many prisoners were left in their cells as flooding came over their heads. Others were beaten and many lacked food and water. Even for those that had committed minor offenses, they faced “Katrina time,” which referred to the delay in their prosecutions due to the hurricane.
“Mr. President, we need your help. We need everything you’ve got.” - Governor Bianco to President Bush
The federal government was criticized for their lack of response. After the event, President Bush claimed “full responsibility” for this slow response. Despite his promise to rebuild the levees to the same level or better, the project was underfunded by $1.5 billion and has been acknowledged by experts that the system could not withstand another storm at the level of Hurricane Katrina. Bush ignored the plea from Governor Bianco that“Mr. President, we need your help. We need everything you’ve got.” Bush delayed a response for 4 days. The first night he went to sleep without issuing a response to the message. He spent the next days finishing prior commitments to sing with country star Mark Willis and finishing his vacation in Texas. Eventually, his staff created a video of the suffering due to the hurricane to try and sensitize him to the issue. However, there was an extensive effort put into a public relations campaign to blame Governor Bianco for the issues. Federal aid was requested before the storm, yet only 2 FEMA workers were present immediately after the storm. It was several days before 1,000 FEMA officials arrived, which was not enough to address the disaster.
There were also issues with disaster capitalism where companies profit from destruction. There were many no-bid contracts and “over 90% of the initial clean-up contracts went to companies outside of the states most affected by Katrina.” The local people and their companies were ignored to the benefit of outside companies. Also during this time, the Bush administration suspended minimum wage and minority-owned business requirements, that damaged the community further. After the hurricane, federal social service funding was cut by $71 million. This decision was justified by the loss of residents. Yet, Louisiana still has high rates of homelessness, job losses, depression, and domestic violence. The number of mental health professionals was cut dramatically, despite the increased need. Additionally, 75% of public housing was demolished after the hurricane. Representative Richard Baker from Baton Rouge made a forward comment that “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.” His harsh words cause concern as many people were left homeless from the damage and the loss of public housing.
"Responsibilities don’t end in places like the Ninth Ward- they begin in places like the Ninth Ward.”- President Obama
The school system also suffered tremendously. For 2 years, the mayor closed the schools. He also fired 7,500 public school employees, which was ruled as illegal in 2012 since it violated state employment law. It was too late since schools had already been privatized. When President Obama visited New Orleans, he stated that “it will be made clear to members of my administration that their responsibilities don’t end in places like the Ninth Ward- they begin in places like the Ninth Ward.” The school system is still struggling with mainly charter schools that are only accessible to some people.
2 million volunteers spent $2 billion travelling to NOLA... These funds could have...rebuilt the neighborhood 4x over.
An interesting point that the museum noted was the outside aid and volunteers that flocked to the city. Between 2005-2012, 2 million volunteers spent $2 billion travelling to NOLA. They average about 14 hours of work in week long visit. These funds could have build 19,230 homes in the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood, meaning it could have rebuilt the neighborhood 4x over. While people brought good intentions with their aid, outside aid is something to be wary of when considering what is most beneficial to the community. This was seen in the disaster capitalism with outside contractors and the well-meaning groups that journeyed to NOLA to provide a week of service.
The museum is clearly ingrained in its community. While we were there, we saw them preparing food donations for Thanksgiving. Additionally, we met Leona Tate who was one of the first people in the area to integrate schools when she was in kindergarten. According to their website, Tate works to educate the public, especially young people, about the civil rights movements and other human rights campaigns. Amongst the destruction and disappointment, there is hope. Throughout the museum, stories of people engaging their community and sharing their unique talents such as music were shared. The place has a strong community feel and a spirit of resilience that survived a hurricane. In the words of Resident Betty Stewart, ”the forgotten people of the Lower Ninth refuse to be forgotten any longer.” This is a community that refuses to be swept away and will work to share their story while restoring their community.
Information from the Lower 9th Ward Museum. For more information and to donate to the museum, visit their Facebook site @L9LivingMuseum or The Leona Tate Foundation website https://www.leonatatefoundation.org/