134,344 of 188,251 occupied housing units in Orleans were damaged by Katrina. Of these 105,155 were destroyed (damage exceed 50% of value).
Tens of thousands more were damaged and destroyed in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Washington, St. Tammany parishes. Additional tens of thousands were damaged and destroyed in Mississippi and Alabama.
This just sounds like numbers, but it is epic. Tornadoes get national attention by destroying a few tens of buildings, maybe even a church. A nasty flood might damage a thousand homes. The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1908 destroyed 28,000 buildings. We are talking about more than 100,000 homes. Gone. Destroyed. There is no reference point, short of war, to compare this to.
Studying the numbers, even looking at photos of damaged buildings can't prepare one for the shock of visiting the city first hand. Driving through block after block, mile after mile of abandoned, damaged and destroyed houses, stores, offices is numbing. Fifty square miles of densely populated city sat underwater for weeks. Cross a bridge and you reemerge into the real world for a spell and then you see it again. More flooded homes, a few brave souls struggling to live in FEMA trailers while they rebuild. Deep in Kenner, far from the seventeenth street canal, localized flooding has forced thousands more out of their homes.
It is bad enough when you have to evacuate for a month. It's worse when your home is destroyed and you have to rebuild. Try to imagine how miserable it is when your city is destroyed and you can't rebuild. Just try to get an electrical permit. You'll become a Libertarian overnight.
FEMA says you have to elevate your home if it was more than 50% damaged. That's a hoot if you built slab-on-ground like most Americans. They'll offer a $30,000 increased cost of compliance (ICC) grant. No one has ever raised a slab house for less than $100,000.
Got a headache yet. Take two asprin, don an R95 respirator, gloves, and goggles to protect your eyes, then call me in the morning. We'll be gutting houses. Assholes and elbows. Crowbars and hammers. It's all the same. Even 18 months after the storm there are tens of thousands of abandoned homes. And when you clean them up and lock them up what are you going to do about the black and festering swimming pool in the back yard? Mosquito eating fish? Give me a break!
Housing has
taken on the preeminent role as the recovery continues. No shit sherlock!
There are
numerous issues and alternatives.(each and every one offers new headaches)
- Temporary housing for recovery workers, homeowners, employees in New Orleans
- Housing for displaced low income families outside New Orleans
- Where to encourage rebuilding and where to avoid
-
What to raise above the floodplain and how
- What to do about public housing (projects and section 8)
-
What to bulldoze
The
ULI and BNOB studies suggested we rebuild on the high ground first. This caused a political backlash. People who lived on low ground feared they would lose their homes. Developers were accused of a "land grab." The mayor dodged the issue and seems to
be saying we should rebuild everywhere (everywhere first?). He is
following the FEMA rule strictly: under 50% damage OK, over 50% check
the floodplain first then raise or raze. He seems willing to try to rebuild infrastructure everywhere first. How (un)realistic is that?
There are not enough contractors to do everything. Few will do repairs preferring to do replacements instead. Hey, I've gotten pretty good with caulk and plumbers teflon tape.
FEMA's new floodplain guidelines were released in 2006 after the Corps
pledged to repair the levees to protect from a 100 year standard project storm. They call for all new and substantially
rebuilt buildings to be raised at least 3 feet off street level, higher
in the lowest areas. This is not high enough to protect buildings if
the levees break or are substantially over topped by a Cat 4 or 5 storm
but will suffice to protect against most rain events and typical
tropical systems up to a category 3 hurricane if the levees hold. So they badgered the Corps to promise that the levees would hold. So the Corps promised they'd do their best to get something in place by 2010.
After 1 year, the city is still in the process of planning. There is no
consensus on where to rebuild first. Only the lower ninth ward is still
off limits. Efforts to actually create a plan have renewed vigor in
August with Rockefeller Foundation funding. The city is still having
major infrastructure problems.
(Times Picayune graphic hints at progress)Federal CDBG funds targeted at rebuilding became the Road Home Program in Louisiana. Although some funds were reserved for infrastructure, most are being directed to compensate homeowners for some of their losses. Slow moving and bureaucratically bound this program looks like it will takes years to complete.
The best editorial cartoon in years portrays Governor Kathleen Blanco riding on the Road Home float during Mardi Gras 2007. A little boy in the crowd looks at his mom and asks "Why is she only throwing one bead at a time?" (If you don't understand, you owe yourself a trip to Mardi Gras.)Finally 18 months after the storm, the planning pieces are beginning to fall into place. The Rockefeller supported Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP) was presented to the City Council. The process used to create the UNOP was designed to defuse inevitable criticism and seems to be working. Ed Blakely is on board as executive director of reconstruction with a positive attitude and new energy. Regional planning efforts are still lagging as the LRA's Louisiana Speaks regional planning activity is just getting under way.
Then one month later Blakely is on vacation (already? it was planned that way. wow !?) and the UNOP is under attack by the BGR. Oh my God. It's the attack of the alphapet soup. In March 2007 Blakely says he'll be done within a year. It seems like he's already done (done for that is). By 2008 mention of Blakely in the press is gone and the city seems unchanged.