Katrina: The Third Anniversary
And you'd better have a car (or scooter!). In the past year, transit ridership grew by 45 percent, but commuters must be packed in like sardines: the city has added no new public transportation routes or buses since last year. Only 48% of the pre-Katrina routes are open, and only 69 buses are running. There were 368 buses running pre-Katrina.
But what about FEMA? What does its scorecard look like?
More than half of the "active" residences are located primarily in areas unflooded in 2005. However, in 2000, the Census shows that these areas accounted for only 39% of households. So there is clearly a geographical shift occurring. Why?
Well, the Road Home program is moving slowly. As of July 2008, 185,106 applicants have been awarded an average of $58,688. However, only 62% of those have closed (ie, the home owners have received the award). Yet most - overwhelmingly most - of these home owners plan to stay and rebuild. The exception is St. Bernard Parish, where only about 2/3 plan to rebuild.
In addition, FEMA has promised nearly $7 billion for local infrastructure repairs and debris removal. However, only slightly more than half of those funds has been disbursed to localities. For example, only 40.6% of FEMA's Public Assistance Grants has been disbursed to Orleans Parish. Plaquemines Parish, on the other hand, has received only 26% of the allocated $486 million.
And you wonder by the hardest-hit areas are have the highest "non-active" rates?
Reflecting this housing dilemma, almost 14,000 regional families still receive Disaster Housing Assistance Program vouchers. However, the program is scheduled to expire in March 2009. Among these families, 58 percent are in the Orleans Parish and 28 percent in Jefferson. Also, as of June 2008, people are still living in 16,059 active mobile homes, travel trailers and "park models."
Three years later, affordable housing remains a significant challenge: metro-area rents have increased 46 percent since Katrina. And low unemployment rates are not translating to higher wages; many service workers -- child care, maintenance -- would have to use more than 30% of their income to rent an apartment.
On a brighter note, today my colleague at the University of Washington, Hanson Hosein, is debuting a film that captures the spirit of those who are rebuilding their city, brick by brick. It makes its entrance at “New Orleans Speaks: We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For,” a symposium sponsored by The New Orleans Institute, which focuses on innovative ways to restore the city. Go to Independent America: Rising From Ruins to watch the trailer.
- Hurricane Katrina - Livability Statistics
- Hurricane Katrina Timeline
- Hurricane Katrina : One Year Later
- Katrina Anniversary Marked By Mid-West Floods (August 2007)
- Katrina Incompetence Redux: FEMA Trailers (August 2007)
- GAO: Katrina-Related Contracting Practices Reflect Waste (March 2006)
- Climate Change, Katrina and Muzzled Scientists (March 2006)
- Katrina and the Risks of Global Warming (September 2005)
- Katrina News: White House Told of Breach Day Of Hurricane