America’s Unseen Humanitarian Crisis – the Katrina Aftermath
Kadir van Lohuizen
NOOR
The history of America is the history of race relations. Mark Twain, one of America’s most acclaimed, admired and acerbic critics, spent a lifetime exposing the nation’s distorted view of itself. Nearly a century after Twain’s death, the vexed issue of race is once again on America’s front pages.
On August 29, Hurricane Katrina hit the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. On the first day, the media reported that New Orleans had escaped a major disaster because the eye of the storm had hit south of the city. Images the days after proved differently. The surge caused levees and floodwalls to breach, flooding 80% of the city, at a time when many residents were still in the city. Some reached the “Superdome” in time, many camped on roofs waiting for help, and thousands drowned; the exact number is still not known.
The storm exposed the poverty in Louisiana and Mississippi, poverty previously unknown to many, and the question remains as to whether the response of the authorities was so slow because the victims were poor African Americans. Why was the response to the forest fires in California so swift?
Preview
After nearly three years some people have returned, but for most of them this has not turned out to be a good move. There is work in New Orleans, but it is very difficult to find a house as rents have sometimes tripled. So shelters in New Orleans are full again and there are even people living in tents under the highway. The Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, stated that if these people did not leave, they would be arrested. Needless to say crime has reached an all time high.
In recent months all public housing in New Orleans has been demolished, apartments which housed thousands of families before the storm. Most of the apartments were actually in good condition and survived, but before the storm there was a plan to demolish them because they were crime-ridden. Katrina was used as an excuse to board them up and close them down. And there is no future plan for most of the demolished projects. Trailer parks in and around the city will also be closed down, affecting thousands. People receive a voucher, but this does not guarantee any housing, it merely shows that the person has the right to rent.
For refugees, for example in Houston, life is not getting much better. In this city alone there are still some 70,000 Katrina survivors, and while the city has been good to them, assistance has dried up. People now have to pay full market rents and most are unemployed. Crime is also on the rise and the city of Houston is building a new juvenile detention center in the city center.
