5 Years Post-Katrina, President Obama Applauds Resilience, Reform, & Recovery

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - The Talk Radio News Service

President Obama travelled to New Orleans, Sunday, to deliver an address to a city that, five years earlier, experienced the catastrophic effects of a category five hurricane, named Katrina, which changed the lives of millions along the Gulf Coast. 

In his address, the President focused on the progress the city has made since the disaster, and the inimitable resilience of the Coast’s residents.

“We’ve seen many return to their beloved city with a new-found sense of appreciation and obligation to this community,” said the President.

Obama detailed the recent achievements and successes of New Orleans’ housing system, justice system, and the recent re-opening of Charity Hospital, and specifically mentioned the hard work of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) for striving to build the city’s infrastructure to a level higher than it had been before the disaster.

The President also enlightened residents on a decision the administration adopted on Friday to direct $1.8 billion to Orleans parish schools so that they may continue to become, “a model of innovation for the nation.”

“You’re not just rebuilding,” said the President; “you’re rebuilding stronger than before.”

The administration promises to have rebuilt the levees by next year, and pledges to improve emergency planning and response so that, “never again in America is somebody left behind in a disaster because they are living with a disability, or because they’re elderly, or because they’re infirm,” assured the President.

President Obama also remarked on his continued commitment to holding BP accountable for the oil spill that has made recovery from the prior disaster that much more difficult.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast on April 29th, 2005, taking the lives of nearly 2,000 and leaving over $81 billion in damage in its wake.