CollegiateCaseStudy
THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER
New Orleans symbolizes U.S. war on poverty
By Richard Wolf ...........................................................................10-11
How I saved my business
By Anne Konigsmark............................................................................12-13
Hope, skepticism markKatrina anniversary
By
Rick Jervis
....................................................................................6
Katrina ‘voluntourists’ makelabor a vacation
By
Larry Copeland
................................................................................7-9
Critical inquiry
Discussion and future implications..................................................................................14-15
www.usatodaycollege.com
© Copyright 2007 USATODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, shattering lives andcommunities. The recovery effort still continues, and the response to the disas-ter has run the gamut from the volunteer efforts of individuals to the continuedpush for anti-poverty legislation in the federal government. The articles in thiscase study explore the actions of individuals, businesses and the government inthe wake of Katrina. In highlighting post-Katrina actions, the articles also revealthe passions, values and character of the men and women involved.
Character revealed through Post-Katr
ina actions
Public vs. Private
By Rick JervisUSATODAYNEW ORLEANS — It's hard to imaginethe 7-foot wall of muddy water thatmuscled into Denise Thornton's housetwo years ago, swallowing half her homeand belongings.Today, the two-storybrick home in theLakewood neighborhoodof New Orleans appearsgood as new. There's newfurniture in the living room,art hanging from freshlypainted walls and a grandpiano in the living room.Nearly 80% of the homes in affluentLakewood have been rebuilt orreoccupied, a remarkable return rate foran area just down the road from one of the biggest levee breaches."This neighborhood is back," saysThornton, who used her personalsavings to jump-start reconstruction of her home.Less than 2 miles east on HarrisonAvenue, the firehouse of Engine 18 isshuttered and dark. A sign in front of thetwo-story building reads:"Help rebuild HarrisonAvenue Firehouse —Donations: Gulf Coast Bank— T-shirts: $20." Threefirefighters work and sleepin a cramped aluminumtrailer behind the closedfirehouse.Two years after the devastating floodsthat followed Hurricane Katrina, therebuilding of New Orleans, and much of the Gulf Coast, has largely taken twopaths: communities that have rebuiltthemselves using private funds,
The pace of rebuilding depends on who'spaying. As government work plods along,New Orleans residents are getting things done.
USA TODAY Snapshots
®
Federal commitments to Hurricane Katrina recoveryin Louisiana (in billions):
Source: Louisiana Recovery Authority
By David Stuckey and Robert W. Ahrens, USA TODAY
Money toward reconstruction
RebuildingDisaster relief National Flood Insurance Program
$26.4$18.0$14.7
Tracking recoveryin New Orleans
MARK
Two years after Katrina
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S NEWS SECTION, AUGUST 29, 2007
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.Page 2
insurance money and sheer will — andpublicly funded efforts that have movedmuch more slowly.Federal, state and local governmentshave struggled to speed up the release of funds and restore infrastructure. None of the 115 "critical priority projects"identified by city officials has beencompleted: For example, New Orleans'police superintendent still works out of atrailer, as do most of the city'sfirefighters. And analysts at the city'scrime lab don't have a laboratory tomatch DNA samples.The delays have affected the poor themost — those dependent on governmentassistance to rebuild their lives. Whilemiddle- and upper-class neighborhoodshave rebuilt using private insurance andcontacts, residents of low-income areassuch as the Lower 9th Ward and HolyCross — roughly 20,000 of them — for themost part remain scattered throughoutthe region, their return uncertain.The flooding that began after Katrinahit on Aug. 29, 2005, delivered anestimated $150 billion worth of damageto the Gulf Coast, making it the worstdisaster in U.S. history. Of the $116 billionappropriated by Congress to Gulf Coastrecovery, $34 billion has been earmarkedfor long-term rebuilding. But less thanhalf of that has made its way throughfederal checks and balances to reachmunicipal projects.Throughout the Gulf Coast, residentsare asking why their government — atevery level — hasn't done more tostreamline the process and bring morerebuilding dollars to the region."We're working ourselves close todeath," says Scott Darrah, a New Orleanscivic activist. "But we can't move it pastfurther than what we have today. Thegovernment needs to step up."There are signs of progress. About 111million cubic yards of debris — enough tofill the Louisiana Superdome more than20 times — has been cleared from Gulf Coast communities. Electricity and waterhas been restored to virtually every cityin the coastal region. And New Orleans'population, at about 300,000, is back tomore than 67% of what it was beforeKatrina.The Army Corps of Engineers hasreceived $7 billion since Katrina to fortifyNew Orleans' flood-protection system,including installing new floodgates at themouth of the Lake Pontchartrain andrebuilding broken levees.Last week, the corps unveiled a long-term plan to protect New Orleans from a100-year storm — a relatively strongstorm with a 1% chance of hittingLouisiana each year — that will cost anadditional $7.6 billion and be completedby 2011.Katrina was a 396-year storm, meaningthat statistically, another storm of itsmagnitude should not hit for nearly 400years.'People needed help'Stringent rules attached to federalfunds distributed by the FederalEmergency Management Agency(FEMA), coupled with the magnitude of the damage, have slowed manymunicipal projects."There was a tendency in the earlydays to think we could run this as wemight run a garden-variety disaster," saysGil Jamieson, FEMA's deputyadministrator for Gulf Coast Recovery."But you just can't push that big of a pigthrough the pipe."Soon after the storm, Thornton sensedthe government response would be slow.As workers rebuilt her home, she opened
Photos by H. Darr Beiser, USATODAY
T
wo views:Denise Thornton, above, jump-startedwork on her home with her own money andhelped organize rebuilding in her area. At Engine18, right, fire Capt. Paul Hellmers is still waiting forpublic funds.
Page 3
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S NEWS SECTION, AUGUST 29, 2007
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
her door to neighbors. She persuaded the local cable companyto run a single Internet line down the oak tree in her front yardand into her house. Neighbors gathered at her home to accessfree wireless Internet.She kept a three-ring binder in her living room filled withtips on navigating the complex maze of contractors andinsurance claims. She brewed coffee."I realized very early on that people needed help," saysThornton, 49, who owns a room-fragrance business. "And Ineeded them. I wanted my neighborhood back."Thornton's efforts soon became a registered non-profitcalled Beacon of Hope. It drew on volunteers and cashdonations by groups such as the United Way and dispatchedteams to cut the lawns of abandoned homes, rebuild areaparks and keep streets clear of debris. The activity drewresidents back.Today, 11 Beacon of Hope offices are spread across northernNew Orleans, performing services usually done by the city."If disaster strikes another city, the best thing they could dois realize that the government will not do anything for you,"Thornton says."We are in this for ourselves."In the third-floor offices of a University of New Orleanscampus building, thigh-high piles of folders and papers arestacked next to a wall in the DNA department of the NewOrleans Police crime lab. Backlog cases, senior analyst JenniferSchroeder says.The crime lab's original building was destroyed under 4 1/2feet of water during Katrina. The floods also destroyed the"wet labs" used by DNA analysts to match samples of suspects,mostly in rape cases.If police need an urgent match, the case is outsourced tostate or private labs, says Anna Duggar, the crime lab's director.But without wet labs, in-house analysis has ceased. "DNAreally can't function without their lab spaces," she says.The city estimates it'll need $3million to replace the crimelab. So far, FEMA has obligated $673,000 for the building, saysCynthia Sylvain-Lear, the city's deputy chief administrativeofficer.The crime lab moved out of temporary trailers and into itscurrent location in April, in offices leased with FEMA funds,Duggar says. Architectural drawings were done so the spacecould be retrofitted with wet labs. But it's not clear when thecrime lab will move into permanent facilities.Part of the delay in municipal projects stems from FEMA'srequirement that the city pay for projects up front, then getreimbursed by the federal government. That's money the citydoesn't have, Sylvain-Lear says. There was an estimated $1billion in damage to city buildings and infrastructure, such asroads and bridges, but only $45million in federal funds hasreached city hands, she says. This does not include funds forpublic schools or the city's Sewerage and Water Board."I can't sign the contract without money, and the state can'tgive us the federal money without a contract," Sylvain-Learsays. "I have what some would call a cash-flow nightmare."FEMA officials say the strict rules guard against the misuseof federal money. Projects costing more than $1 million needcongressional review, further delaying the process, FEMA's Jamieson says."There's a lot that can be done to streamline the process," hesays. "The issue is: How much do you want to sacrifice interms of accountability and control over the funds?"Emergency federal funding is governed by the Stafford Act,whose rules require cities and states to match a certainpercentage of federal disaster funds. The U.S. governmentquickly waived the match requirement after previousdisasters, such as Hurricane Andrew in South Florida in 1992and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the U.S.Government Accountability Office.
By H. Darr Beiser, USATODAY
Be
acon of Hope:Denise Thornton checks out a mower to Suresh Sikka.Thornton created a non-profit neighborhood resource center to help herneighbors. "I realized very early on that people needed help," she says.
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USA TODAY Collegiate Case Study: Hurricane Katrina
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, shattering lives and communities. The recovery effort still continues, and the response to the disaster has run the gamut from the volunteer efforts of individuals to…
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