Monday
Aug282006
Katrina 1 year later – more than a photo-op
Monday, August 28, 2006 at 3:00AM
By Ellen Ratner
It is Monday, Aug. 28, and today President and Mrs. Bush as well as several members of Congress are coming to New Orleans and Mississippi to give speeches, do some neighborhood walk-throughs and have some photo ops. There are organizations that are releasing reports, and some Democratic members of Congress are having a town meeting in Mississippi and New Orleans.
This "speechifying" and photo ops on the anniversary of Katrina are expected, but how many of these politicians really understand what has happened on America's Gulf Coast? For anyone who has sat through Katrina hearings on Capitol Hill and spent real time in the Gulf, it is obvious that that many members of Congress are clueless. How many of them have actually spent more than a few minutes with the people who can't fly back to Washington at the end of a day of photo ops?
This week I flew down to New Orleans and Mississippi with members of my family, as I have done several times over the course of the year, as we work to build an education center and public swimming pool in Harrison County, Miss. I wanted my family to see the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and to meet the people who have spent the last year rebuilding their lives and communities. I wanted them to drive the 90 miles from New Orleans to the Alabama line and see what no 25-inch television screen can show you – devastation that lasts for miles and goes beyond human comprehension.
My niece and her husband, along with my brother, were speechless. As we drove from the New Orleans airport to Mississippi and they saw the miles and miles of Hurricane Katrina's wrath, they were shocked by the sheer magnitude of the loss and damage. They were moved beyond words at the fact that so many of the communities along Interstate 10 had no signs of life. Infrastructure is non-existent and even the expensive homes of New Orleans' bedroom communities have no signs of occupancy one year later. Helping just two families clean their homes and sand and spackle dry wall gave my family the understanding of the enormity of the work to be done (often without professional help or enough money to complete the job).
The trip with my family had the desired effect. They understood what I had been doing this last year and why it's important to help this small Mississippi Gulf community rebuild. They now want to help too. We discussed the possible remedies, what Congress and the White House can and should do.
But how can a Congress and an administration that is largely clueless really understand the solutions that are needed? It is one thing to take a day or two tour of the Gulf hopping from place to place, spending a few minutes at each stop, and another thing to roll up sleeves and help get the work done. One grass-roots organization, Women of the Storm, has attempted to make a difference. They have raised money, lobbied Capitol Hill and the White House and tried to get lawmakers to come down to the region. They want people to come to New Orleans and Mississippi to see for themselves. Their success? So far, less than 23 percent of House of Representatives (100 members) have visited here since the storm and only 55 percent (55 senators) of members of the Senate have been in the Gulf. Most have come for only a day or two. Few have actually done any physical work while here.
Katrina is the worst natural disaster in American history. Post-Katrina hearings, speeches and reports abound in Congress, but little money has been distributed so people can rebuild. FEMA won't pay for permanent housing structures, so instead up to $65,000 is spent on temporary trailers when in many cases much less money would completely repair a home or even purchase a new one.
Lawmakers are voting, attaching amendments and writing legislation for Katrina survivors without a real understanding of what works. Had they recruited constituents from their districts to come with them for a week and help work in Katrina-ravaged areas, they wouldn't be making clueless laws; they might have a greater urgency about passing legislation that would actually make a difference.
One Katrina survivor said to me, "They don't come here because maybe they want to remain clueless." Maybe they do, but working American families are suffering as a result.
It is Monday, Aug. 28, and today President and Mrs. Bush as well as several members of Congress are coming to New Orleans and Mississippi to give speeches, do some neighborhood walk-throughs and have some photo ops. There are organizations that are releasing reports, and some Democratic members of Congress are having a town meeting in Mississippi and New Orleans.
This "speechifying" and photo ops on the anniversary of Katrina are expected, but how many of these politicians really understand what has happened on America's Gulf Coast? For anyone who has sat through Katrina hearings on Capitol Hill and spent real time in the Gulf, it is obvious that that many members of Congress are clueless. How many of them have actually spent more than a few minutes with the people who can't fly back to Washington at the end of a day of photo ops?
This week I flew down to New Orleans and Mississippi with members of my family, as I have done several times over the course of the year, as we work to build an education center and public swimming pool in Harrison County, Miss. I wanted my family to see the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and to meet the people who have spent the last year rebuilding their lives and communities. I wanted them to drive the 90 miles from New Orleans to the Alabama line and see what no 25-inch television screen can show you – devastation that lasts for miles and goes beyond human comprehension.
My niece and her husband, along with my brother, were speechless. As we drove from the New Orleans airport to Mississippi and they saw the miles and miles of Hurricane Katrina's wrath, they were shocked by the sheer magnitude of the loss and damage. They were moved beyond words at the fact that so many of the communities along Interstate 10 had no signs of life. Infrastructure is non-existent and even the expensive homes of New Orleans' bedroom communities have no signs of occupancy one year later. Helping just two families clean their homes and sand and spackle dry wall gave my family the understanding of the enormity of the work to be done (often without professional help or enough money to complete the job).
The trip with my family had the desired effect. They understood what I had been doing this last year and why it's important to help this small Mississippi Gulf community rebuild. They now want to help too. We discussed the possible remedies, what Congress and the White House can and should do.
But how can a Congress and an administration that is largely clueless really understand the solutions that are needed? It is one thing to take a day or two tour of the Gulf hopping from place to place, spending a few minutes at each stop, and another thing to roll up sleeves and help get the work done. One grass-roots organization, Women of the Storm, has attempted to make a difference. They have raised money, lobbied Capitol Hill and the White House and tried to get lawmakers to come down to the region. They want people to come to New Orleans and Mississippi to see for themselves. Their success? So far, less than 23 percent of House of Representatives (100 members) have visited here since the storm and only 55 percent (55 senators) of members of the Senate have been in the Gulf. Most have come for only a day or two. Few have actually done any physical work while here.
Katrina is the worst natural disaster in American history. Post-Katrina hearings, speeches and reports abound in Congress, but little money has been distributed so people can rebuild. FEMA won't pay for permanent housing structures, so instead up to $65,000 is spent on temporary trailers when in many cases much less money would completely repair a home or even purchase a new one.
Lawmakers are voting, attaching amendments and writing legislation for Katrina survivors without a real understanding of what works. Had they recruited constituents from their districts to come with them for a week and help work in Katrina-ravaged areas, they wouldn't be making clueless laws; they might have a greater urgency about passing legislation that would actually make a difference.
One Katrina survivor said to me, "They don't come here because maybe they want to remain clueless." Maybe they do, but working American families are suffering as a result.
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