Victims of 2005 Gulf Hurricanes
I know it seems like an old tired subject. Apparently, the president thought so when he didn't address it in his state of the union message. I am still seeing astonishing images in my mind by reading the statistics of recovery coming out of the Gulf Coast area. Try picturing these!
When the Brookings Institute published it's statistics of economic indicators regarding the recovery from Hurricane Katrina this January, reflecting December 2006, I was stunned by one postive indicator. 649 damaged homes had been razed in New Orleans that month, more homes than you find in one of the hundreds of thousands of small towns in the U.S. with populations of around 3000. We all have some connection to a town that size; we grew up there, our grandmother lived there, we passed through one on our way to the family cabin every summer, we went home from college with a roommate one week-end to her so sweet main street U.S.A. home town. Imagine that town completely flattened, gone. And we are just imagining the area of razed houses in one month, December.
According to the January report 4200 damaged homes have been razed since Katrina made land fall in August of 2005. Now you are talking about the disappearance of a town with a population of between 16,000 to 24,000.
Finally, when officials in the areas of the Gulf Coast touched by the Hurricanes of 2005 spoke publicly about their frustration that their situation was not addressed in this week's State of the Union, I heard another startling statistic. One governor said that 13,000 families, not individuals, families still do not have permanent housing as a result of the storms. The source is not as reliable as the Brookings Institute statistics. Still it gives you an image.
Multiply conservatively by an average family size of 4, we are talking about the population of a small city, over 50,000 people, half of those children. To put a personal reference on that number. In the mid-sixties, Pueblo was the second largest town, behind Denver, in my home state of Colorado with a population of around 50,000. I live in Santa Fe, the oldest city and the oldest government seat in the country, whose population only exceeded 50,000 in the last decade of the 20th century.
Time heals all wounds? Maybe the devastation of the Hurricanes of 2005 is fading from the memories of those of us who were not directly impacted. I doubt, however, that time helps families heal when they are still homeless. Let's not forget that there are approximately 50,000 people, 13,000 families, according to some estimates, without homes.
To support my favored fundraiser for Housing Relief for these families, go to www.BelleCora.com/I-Heard-it-on-Oprah.html. This is the website of my publishing group where we are distributing an inspirational journal to raise funds for housing relief. Many other businesses and organizations are dedicating profits from useful products to Hurricane Recovery. You can find them on the web. Or go to the sites below to learn more about helping and about resent recovery statistics.
http://www2.oprah.com/uyl/katrina/uyl_katrina_main.jhtml Oprah's Angel Network Housing for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Learn what and where building has and is taking place and how you can help.
www.habitat.org/local/ The official site of Habitat for Humanity.
www.habitat-nola.org/ The Habitat for Humanity site operating in New Orleans
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/200512_katrinaindex.htm To see all the reports from the Brookings Institute on Hurricane Katrina, to learn more about the research work of the Institute or to receive their updates.
http://www.gnocdc.org/KI/ESKatrinaIndex.pdf - Executive Summary PDF of the Brookings January 2007 report on Katrina Recovery, as quoted in this blog.
Copyright © 2007 by Martie LaCasse
When the Brookings Institute published it's statistics of economic indicators regarding the recovery from Hurricane Katrina this January, reflecting December 2006, I was stunned by one postive indicator. 649 damaged homes had been razed in New Orleans that month, more homes than you find in one of the hundreds of thousands of small towns in the U.S. with populations of around 3000. We all have some connection to a town that size; we grew up there, our grandmother lived there, we passed through one on our way to the family cabin every summer, we went home from college with a roommate one week-end to her so sweet main street U.S.A. home town. Imagine that town completely flattened, gone. And we are just imagining the area of razed houses in one month, December.
According to the January report 4200 damaged homes have been razed since Katrina made land fall in August of 2005. Now you are talking about the disappearance of a town with a population of between 16,000 to 24,000.
Finally, when officials in the areas of the Gulf Coast touched by the Hurricanes of 2005 spoke publicly about their frustration that their situation was not addressed in this week's State of the Union, I heard another startling statistic. One governor said that 13,000 families, not individuals, families still do not have permanent housing as a result of the storms. The source is not as reliable as the Brookings Institute statistics. Still it gives you an image.
Multiply conservatively by an average family size of 4, we are talking about the population of a small city, over 50,000 people, half of those children. To put a personal reference on that number. In the mid-sixties, Pueblo was the second largest town, behind Denver, in my home state of Colorado with a population of around 50,000. I live in Santa Fe, the oldest city and the oldest government seat in the country, whose population only exceeded 50,000 in the last decade of the 20th century.
Time heals all wounds? Maybe the devastation of the Hurricanes of 2005 is fading from the memories of those of us who were not directly impacted. I doubt, however, that time helps families heal when they are still homeless. Let's not forget that there are approximately 50,000 people, 13,000 families, according to some estimates, without homes.
To support my favored fundraiser for Housing Relief for these families, go to www.BelleCora.com/I-Heard-it-on-Oprah.html. This is the website of my publishing group where we are distributing an inspirational journal to raise funds for housing relief. Many other businesses and organizations are dedicating profits from useful products to Hurricane Recovery. You can find them on the web. Or go to the sites below to learn more about helping and about resent recovery statistics.
http://www2.oprah.com/uyl/katrina/uyl_katrina_main.jhtml Oprah's Angel Network Housing for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Learn what and where building has and is taking place and how you can help.
www.habitat.org/local/ The official site of Habitat for Humanity.
www.habitat-nola.org/ The Habitat for Humanity site operating in New Orleans
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/200512_katrinaindex.htm To see all the reports from the Brookings Institute on Hurricane Katrina, to learn more about the research work of the Institute or to receive their updates.
http://www.gnocdc.org/KI/ESKatrinaIndex.pdf - Executive Summary PDF of the Brookings January 2007 report on Katrina Recovery, as quoted in this blog.
Copyright © 2007 by Martie LaCasse
Labels: Brookings Institute Statistics on Recovery, Giving, Housing Relief, Hurricane Relief, I Heard it on Oprah
posted by Martie | 6:20 AM
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