The strain of taking in approximately 150,000 evacuees is beginning to bubble to the surface in Houston, TX. According to a recent
story that came out today (in the NYT and USAToday), Houston is dealing with an increase in crime, schools having a hard time dealing with all the new students, and a feeling of underappreciation from the federal government:
Houston is straining along its municipal seams from the 150,000 new residents from New Orleans, officials say. Crime was already on the rise there before the hurricane, but the Houston police say that evacuees were victims or suspects in two-thirds of the 30 percent increase in murders since September. The schools are also struggling to educate thousands of new children.
On the flip I'll discuss some of these points in more detail and tie this situation into my fears for future climate change and possible societal impacts.
I wondered what was going to happen to all of those folks. We knew a large number went to Houston and received immediate housing needs and basic necessities. That made most everybody feel good that something was being done. I haven't seen much in the way of discussing the medium- and long-term effects of that large of a population evacuating to a different state within our own borders.
Evacuees have been victims of or accused of committing 39 of the 235 murders in Houston since last September, said Houston's police chief, Harold Hurtt. In January alone, there was a 34 percent rise in felonies over the previous year in the city.
"I can't tell you what percentage of that group is evacuees," Chief Hurtt said. "But I am sure they are really represented in that group."
First, a 30% increase in murders since September is an incredible statistic. I haven't heard of a similar increase in other metropolitan areas. Is the increase solely related to the additional citizens? Of course not. But somebody had better get to the bottom of how much is a result of the presence of evacuees and then develop a plan to deal with the factors identified. The last thing Houston citizens or New Orleans evacuees need is a worseneing civil situation.
Residents, atomized over a broad swath of land with few interneighborhood connections, seem at one level to be dedicated to helping their neighbors, and are quick to cite numerous examples of continued volunteerism and the improved lives of children who they say are getting a better education than they received in New Orleans.
So there's definitely some good news in the larger scenario. The people of Houston are to be commended to opening their city and hearts to the evacuees. Most Americans are having a hard enough time taking care of their own families. Taking in 150,000 people is a monumental task.
The Houston public school system, with about 208,000 students, also wants money to pay for more teachers, additional facilities and tutoring help for its roughly 30,000 evacuee children. The New Orleans schools, surrounded by far greater poverty than Houston, are among the nation's most troubled.
...
"We have asked the state government for resources to get them up to speed," said Mr. Abbott, with an eye toward regulations of the federal No Child Left Behind law. "That will be a concern, but these children are ours now, and we don't look at them in any other way."
Adding 14% more people to any program or service would create headaches in the best of circumstances. In this case, that 14% included children who are poorer than their new district-mates. The costs to bring these kids up to speed presents a large challenge to the district: the teachers and administrators both. I admire Mr. Abbott, an example of taking responsibility and providing opportunity to all if I've ever heard one. The Bush administration's underfunding of NCLB has too much chance to ruin too many children's futures here. There are so many possible dynamics that could play out: how will the money and attention of the district be spread out amongst all the children - if they get the money? Given their track record, the administration seems likely to continue their neglect of school systems. I can't imagine his racist family has any interest in helping these kids out. If they can't afford a charter school, what does Bush care?
Though the state has requested $2 billion in federal aid to pay for law enforcement, education and housing, state officials say they have received only $22 million so far.
"We were told we would be taken care of by everybody on the federal level," said Chris Paulitz, a spokesman for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, who recently helped get $380 million in aid added to President Bush's latest supplemental request for Texas. "But clearly that isn't the case. Texas opened its doors and hearts, and that is something we will continue to do today. However, we need to be reimbursed."
This sounds like par for the administration's course. Ask for X amount of dollars in federal aid and receive 2 orders of magnitude less. Thanks a lot - glad we're being represented so well; compassionate conservatism rears its ugly head again and again. My message to Sen. Hutchison and Texans of all stripes: stop beating your head against the wall. If you're truly interested in helping these people out in the near and far term, I suggest starting here, then going here. Also, pay attention to stories like this and information like this and this.
Regardless of what side of the aisle you prefer, leaving millions of Americans at risk just isn't an option. Disasters happen and then every American is affected. There are people out there taking a look at mitigating the effects of those disastes. Come to an understanding of what these people are studying and why. Get your mind around what viable options are available to us. You'll end up paying more down the line by ignoring potential but avoidable events like Katrina or the Earthquake of 1906, etc. It's patriotic to reach your hand out to your neighbor and help them live their life to the fullest. It's morally wrong to realize what kind of conditions the poorest among us live in and tune them out for any reason. We're Americans. We're better than that, red states and blue states both.
Okay, now to tie all that into the largest natural disaster that anyone will face. It is beyond doubt that the Earth's climate is changing. A wide of variety of models models have for years demonstrated the dangers involved. There are concrete, viable steps we can take to alleviate the worst conditions. Because the results if we don't aren't worth considering.
Imagine trying to deal with the population shifts involved if sea levels rose 30 meters. The total numbers would dwarf what happened last year after Katrina. I don't think emergency officials are prepared for the short term disasters. I know our elected officials aren't prepared for this long term disaster. And that's just thinking about the U.S. We potentially have the resources to deal with that kind of a shift. What about lesser developed nations? How many millions (billions?) would have to move; how many would have to starve; how many are going to end up suffering because a few rich Americans didn't want to spend a little to help change our lifestyles 50 years prior?
There are severe consequences to not acting now, Sen. Hutchison (and the rest of us too.) We're seeing how difficult it is to absorb 150,000 people when forced from their homes. Let's learn from that experience. Before we force ourselves to choose between which disasters we're going to deal with, let's do everything we can now to mitigate their effects.