While everyone is discussing the immediate problems of rescue and recovery there needs to be a real long-range recovery plan put in place.
Most people from the region will be homeless for at least six months to a year. Where are they going to stay? They have no home, no jobs (at least presently) and no services in their original neighborhoods. The number of displaced is similar in magnitude to the humanitarian efforts being run in some areas of Africa. Red Cross type of aid is not sufficient.
Some suggestions below:
The short range goal of moving people from New Orleans and other demolished areas should be done within a few days.
It is time to start building the next phase now.
- Set up tent camps or other prefab structures in areas with surrounding services.
- Move people to military bases in unused barracks or set up tents.
- Build temporary shelter and mobile kitchens for workers needed to run the port, rebuild the power and communications grid and man the chemical industry. These shelters have to be in close proximity to the work sites unlike points 1 and 2 which should be farther away.
- Plan for permanent relocation of a significant fraction of the populace under the assumption that the low lying poor areas will not be rebuilt.
After the tsunami hit Hilo Hawaii the area near the water was reconfigured as a park and roadways and the rest of the town was moved uphill.
The beaches along the gulf should also be redesigned so that housing and hotels are not permitted so close to the shore.
- Create new building codes to make structures stronger and less wind prone. Florida has done this already. Existing buildings should be retrofitted over time. San Francisco has done this with earthquake proofing.
- Start a policy debate on the balance of resources the country spends on infrastructure vs military and policing. A country rotting from within can not long support its global objectives.
Since FEMA and other services seem to lack the imagination it is up to us to get creative.