More Katrina Misery
Yesterday, I posted on the House report that will issue on Wednesday which will confirm what we all suspected, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina was itself disasterous (scroll down to "Vertical Incompetence"). It's disheartening to note that the same incompetence continues, making the suffering of the storm's victims even more hellish: emergency housing is being cut off without any longer-term housing in place. From the NY Times:
The worst natural disaster in modern United States history has turned into our collective national shame. When the most powerful nation on earth cannot find long-term housing for its own hurricane victims in almost six months, there is no other word to describe it.
Last Tuesday the government stopped paying for about 4,500 hotel rooms for storm evacuees. By March 1, all but a few people with extenuating circumstances will have to leave their hotels. So will those staying aboard cruise ships, many of whom are the police officers, firefighters and other government employees keeping the city from dying once and for all.
...What is needed is work that solves the immediate problem and also contributes to the long-term solution. That means rehabilitating existing housing. FEMA is working on a pilot program to refurbish a 325-unit apartment complex. The agency says that the mayor's office has identified 20,000 apartments that could potentially be rehabilitated. Federal, state and local resources should be brought to bear in getting those homes fixed and reoccupied. Not next year, but right now. The same goes for the trailers.
As the editorial points out, the initial plan was to use trailers as an interim measure while permanent housing gets put into place via new construction or reconstruction. Trailer parks are not the best of all worlds, but they could serve temporarily. Unfortunately, local officials and local utility companies have been dragging their collective feet in identifying sites and providing the necessary infrastructure. As a result, thousands of quickly built trailers are still sitting at their staging points far from their intended destination.
While local officials bear some of the blame for this, it is also true that the federal officials have complicated matters for the locals. The feds demanded a workable plan for reconstruction. Louisiana complied by developing the "Baker Plan," which was a reasonably constructive measure designed to rebuild New Orleans, but which would take federal cooperation and the release of funds. Only after the plan was completed did FEMA and the White House made it clear that the plan was now unacceptable. Everything ground to a halt when the White House announced that the Baker Bill would not even be brought to the House floor for consideration. In other words, no bill, no money.
Stop-gap housing is supposed to be temporary, but without a plan for permanent reconstruction, the fear is that the trailer parks would become permanent slums. Once again, FEMA fails in its mandate, as does the federal government.
Way to go, George.
The worst natural disaster in modern United States history has turned into our collective national shame. When the most powerful nation on earth cannot find long-term housing for its own hurricane victims in almost six months, there is no other word to describe it.
Last Tuesday the government stopped paying for about 4,500 hotel rooms for storm evacuees. By March 1, all but a few people with extenuating circumstances will have to leave their hotels. So will those staying aboard cruise ships, many of whom are the police officers, firefighters and other government employees keeping the city from dying once and for all.
...What is needed is work that solves the immediate problem and also contributes to the long-term solution. That means rehabilitating existing housing. FEMA is working on a pilot program to refurbish a 325-unit apartment complex. The agency says that the mayor's office has identified 20,000 apartments that could potentially be rehabilitated. Federal, state and local resources should be brought to bear in getting those homes fixed and reoccupied. Not next year, but right now. The same goes for the trailers.
As the editorial points out, the initial plan was to use trailers as an interim measure while permanent housing gets put into place via new construction or reconstruction. Trailer parks are not the best of all worlds, but they could serve temporarily. Unfortunately, local officials and local utility companies have been dragging their collective feet in identifying sites and providing the necessary infrastructure. As a result, thousands of quickly built trailers are still sitting at their staging points far from their intended destination.
While local officials bear some of the blame for this, it is also true that the federal officials have complicated matters for the locals. The feds demanded a workable plan for reconstruction. Louisiana complied by developing the "Baker Plan," which was a reasonably constructive measure designed to rebuild New Orleans, but which would take federal cooperation and the release of funds. Only after the plan was completed did FEMA and the White House made it clear that the plan was now unacceptable. Everything ground to a halt when the White House announced that the Baker Bill would not even be brought to the House floor for consideration. In other words, no bill, no money.
Stop-gap housing is supposed to be temporary, but without a plan for permanent reconstruction, the fear is that the trailer parks would become permanent slums. Once again, FEMA fails in its mandate, as does the federal government.
Way to go, George.
posted by Diane at 4:20 AM
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