Editorial: Katrina May Have Been Least Of The Woes

We may never live long enough to know the why of it, but the visit to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina may have been the least of that city’s problems. Man’s handling of the aftermath has left much to be desired. The hurricane was the spark that ignited the firestorms that followed, but who could have anticipated the failures?

New Orleans is back in the news again—as if it were ever out of it. The latest vexing problem is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency that many characterized as a failure early on, is slow in paying contractors, and some are fuming. Some have walked off the job. Others have taken FEMA to court, and many are avoiding bidding on new jobs. A Kansas City area contractor said, “You’d better hope another storm doesn’t hit you.” He swore he’d never go back to New Orleans. He is suing for $1.7 million for clearing trees in 2005. Another company claims it is owed $150 million.

Contractors are required to submit their bills to the local governments that hired them. They are then sent to the state for approval and sent on to FEMA for review. FEMA says it has done its job and that slow payments evolve from the amount of paperwork and the fact that much of it is incomplete. FEMA representatives couldn’t say how much money is still owed contractors, but says it wants to make sure the government is not overpaying. All this from a government that builds highways to nowhere, financed the construction of the “Big Ditch” and spends $45 million annually to save a few hundred least terns and piping plovers on a short reach of the Missouri River.

The news about contractors’ bills hit the news pages on July 19 in some areas. Three days later came charges that racism and politics are considerations in levee repair and home replacement. William Quigley, a Loyola University law professor, said, “There is a real question of equity and justice in terms of what neighborhoods are being assisted.” Quigley “Down Under,” a civil rights activist, says, “there is a sense that by their actions, public officials are indicating that some people are more welcome back to New Orleans than others.”

Still another recent news item has been the announcement that survivors living in FEMA trailers are getting sick from formaldehyde used in the construction.

The history of the recovery effort in the wake of Katrina has not been pretty or laudable.

The news pages and airwaves were filled at the beginning with reports of the so-called failures of the Louisiana governor, the New Orleans mayor and FEMA. The only shining star to be seen was the rescue efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard, whose helicopter crews lifted thousands to safety. It wasn’t long before the FEMA director was off the job.

As days dragged on and the extent of the damage became known across the land, the stream of stories was highlighted by the miserable conditions at the Superdome, which supposedly was to be a safe haven for storm victims. Then thousands of survivors boarded buses for other cities to escape the turmoil.

During the early days, fleets of trucks carrying ice to the beleaguered hurricane victims never made it to Louisiana.

Hundreds upon hundreds of mobile homes destined for the hurricane site wound up parked in the middle of an old Arkansas airport landing strip, and we’ve heard nothing about them being moved.

Early on, it was difficult to find workers to help in debris cleanup. Then developed the problem of area maritime workers abandoning their jobs because debris removal paid better. Shipyards were scrambling for workers.

The very nature of the handling of recovery contracts became the core of bitter arguments over the tiers of contractors involved in specific jobs. The prime contractor would subcontract the job off to a lesser company, which in turn subbed it off to a still smaller company, etc., each skimming off profit along the way. In some cases, the contractor that finally did debris clearance had only a one- or-two-man operation, a pickup truck and a chain saw.

Records show that workers, gainfully employed at other jobs around the country, used leave from their work to gravitate to New Orleans where high wages could be garnered for standing amid the rubble and directing truck traffic.

Then developed controversy over the flagging of structures for destruction. Property owners disagreed that their property could not be salvaged, and they were angry over the condemning of their structures in their absence.

Not to be overlooked are the ongoing battles over insurance. Insurance companies worked hard to wiggle out of paying property owners by denying claims having to do with floodwater. Many property owners are still bristling over that line of action.

Efforts to shut down the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) got a boost when critics claimed the failure of the MR-GO levees resulted in the destruction of the city’s Ninth Ward and thousands of homes. Still under consideration are proposals related to how the waterway might be closed if that is the decision. It is the Ninth Ward that is now the center of recovery controversy and charges related to equity and justice.

Among the most gripping developments in the aftermath of Katrina has been criticism against of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its long-time involvement in building and maintaining the levee and floodwall system. Inept might be the politest word critics used, but subsequent investigations confirmed that the Corps did only what Congress and Gulf politicians directed the agency to do and did it with the insufficient amount of money it was given. Not so surprising was confirmation that the storm surge was a Category 5, while Katrina’s rating had been reduced to a Category 3 by the time it made landfall.

The Superdome itself could not hold the amount of paper required to record previous Katrina reports and all of those yet to come. Among them will be reports about how New Orleans is recovering well in a number of ways and how new business is flocking to the city. But huge gaps still exist in the recovery effort.

As for the allegations about who is or who is not welcome to return to New Orleans, we haven’t a clue. The book is still being written. We cannot avoid, however, the conclusion that the recovery effort has left a lot to be desired.

The Waterways Journal encourages letters to the editor.
Have something on your mind?
Send letters to: jshoulberg@waterwaysjournal.net.
(Please indicate whether or not your letter is intended for publication.)