rebuild. restore. renew. pt 3
I didn't forget about part three of my Katrina posts, I just got a little derailed. Honestly, between the death of Steve Irwin and the 5-year 9/11 anniversary, I just didn't really feel like writing about Katrina. But here goes the "One Year Later" post.
One year after Katrina is pretty much a mixed bag. The key word for everything in the affected areas is "Patience." A close second is "Waiting." The biggest and most difficult hurdle for residents and rebuilders to face is the red tape. Some areas have come a long, long way in only a year. By January, most areas of Jefferson Parish (Metairie, Kenner) were allowing rebuilders to hook up FEMA trailers in the their front yards while they rebuilt. Orleans Parish was, and still is, a whole different matter. Due to yards and yards of red tape, residents are not allowed to hook up their FEMA trailers because the power isn't on. In order to get the power on, you have to have a power permit. The parish/city government is not issuing power permits, however, until they know how many people will be returning. People aren't returning, though, because they government won't issue power permits for them to move FEMA trailers into their yards and start rebuilding. There is a huge power struggle going on. Despite the absolute foolishness of some of Mayor Nagin's statements recently, he has produced some very good ideas about getting the city moving again, getting FEMA trailers into the Parish, getting residents moved back in. Unfortunately, the city council has been fighting him tooth and nail. Apparently, any idea they don't come up with can't be a good one. Or at least any idea they can't take credit for. In some areas, like St. Bernard Parish, residents are still waiting to find out the plan: will their house be a candidate to rebuild? will it be removed in order to strengthen levees? will it be a park? Slowly, but surely they are finding out and are finally able to make real decisions and plans for the future.
When my grandmother finally moved back into her house in July or so, she was the only person on her street back in. Now there are a number of people back into their houses. The main problem everywhere is just the waiting. Waiting for permission. Waiting for supplies. Waiting for workers. It takes weeks to get an electrician. The demand is so much higher than the supply. Some people are waiting to get FEMA trailers now that they have the permission to hook them up; others are waiting for FEMA to come pick up the ones they aren't using anymore. And everyone is waiting for enough people to move back so that the area will be stabilized.
The scariest problem now is, of course, the crime. Gang warfare has escalated phenominally in recent months as they fight over territory that was either abandoned by gangs who left or was theirs before and must be reclaimed. In the abscence of many older gangs and gang members due to evacuation, the gang members murdering each other in the streets are so young: 12, 13, 14. These kids need prayer and guidance. Business owners and police officers need support and prayer themselves. There is so much territory to patrol that when something does happen, it just takes too long for officers to get to the scene.
There are a lot of problems left to deal with. Katrina was devestating to this area. But good things are happening. The city is taking baby steps back to where it was, and hopefully beyond that to where it ought to be. I added some links after this. The first is to the city's website, the second to a map of the rebuilding. Though ya'll might find that interesting.