With all of the news recently about Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the sad legacy of Hurricane Katrina seems to have dropped off the radar. On August 11, 2008, The New York Times printed an editorial on the continued lack of relief efforts:
The pace of recovery is slowing in New Orleans as the city approaches the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina late this month. The next president and Congress will need to expedite assistance before the city’s mood turns from guarded optimism back to despair.
The editorial goes on to report a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation on the attitudes of NOLA residents:
The good news is that 6 in 10 Katrina survivors say that their lives are almost or largely back to normal, and most see recovery moving in the right direction. The bad news is that 4 in 10 respondents say their lives are still disrupted, and more than 7 in 10 see little or no progress in making housing affordable or in controlling crime, which they view as the city’s top problem.
The bottom line:
Unless government agencies and private organizations pick up the pace of recovery efforts, New Orleans may see its future pack up and go with them.
This is a national disgrace, to say the least. Perhaps we should hold our Congresscritters' feet to the fire and suggest that any future disaster relief legislation include meaningful relief for the thousands of people still suffering from Hurricane Katrina and the government's abysmal failure to do the right thing.