On August 29, 2006, we once again revisited the poor, mostly black, helpless, desperate New Orleans’ faces which arose from the shadows of Hurricane Katrina and the resulting flood which would turn out to be the worst natural disaster in the history of New Orleans and this country.

One year later, the promises from the President, FEMA officials and members of Congress; promises of a rebuilding and reconstructing of New Orleans; rebuilding the levees, and not forgetting the victims of this disaster; well, the visual scenes of the devastated area seem to confirm that the promises have been as empty as the city is today. For those that used to call New Orleans home, it seems that time has stood still and for most the nightmare continues.

The destruction that nature wrought has been hard enough for many people to deal with. But one year later, it is the human misery, government ineptitude, and corporate corruption which has evolved from the storm that remains as our starkest reminder of the “elephant in the room” everybody sees but no one wants to talk or do anything about.

One year later, as is so often the case in this country; the rich have gotten richer while the poor have gotten poorer. And all the while, government bureaucracy and opportunistic politicians have been the main culprits in the one year aftermath of the storm.

It is the less fortunate of New Orleans who are still displaced and who have slowly but surely been forgotten by the rest of the country and especially by the state, local, and particularly federal agencies charged with providing for the people of this country who have been victims of this kind of disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people are still displaced and still without some stability in their lives.

As for companies who capitalize of these tragedies, business as usual has resulted in millions of dollars worth of FEMA contracts. As CorpWatch, a San Francisco based organization whose mission it is to “investigate and expose corporate violations of human rights” has found, “Many of the same ‘disaster profiteers’ and government agencies that mishandled the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq are responsible for the failure of ‘reconstruction’ of the Gulf Coast region. The Army Corps, Bechtel and Halliburton are using the very same ‘contract vehicles’ in the Gulf Coast as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. These

are ‘indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity’ open-ended ‘contingency’ contracts that are being abused by the contractors on the Gulf Coast to squeeze out local companies. These are also ‘cost-plus’ contracts that allow them to collect a profit on everything they spend, which is an incentive to overspend.”

Before Katrina, New Orleans’s population stood at over 500,000 people. Today, the numbers are at about 225,000; although the U.S. Postal service estimates the number could be closer to 170,000, while the electric utility estimates that only 90,000 of its previously 190,000 utility customers have returned.

But the whole demographic structure has changed. Only the people who had insurance or who had the financial resources to return have returned. If you happen to be one of those who were stranded in the lower ninth ward or at the convention center; chances are you are still living somewhere else in this country. And the chances of returning grow slimmer every day.

According to a recent report in USA Today, $122 billion dollars have been approved for spending in the Gulf Coast; but the question of whether that money is getting into the hands of the people who need it most remains unanswered.

According to Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, “over $50 billion was allocated to temporary and long-term housing. Just under $30 billion was for emergency response and Department of Defense spending. Over $18 billion was for State and local response and the rebuilding of infrastructure. $3.6 billion was for health, social services and job training and $3.2 for non-housing cash assistance. $1.9 billion was allocated for education and $1.2 billion for agriculture.

The recipients of these no-bid contracts have been companies with connections to President George W. Bush or his administration. “Contracts went to Bechtel Corporation, the Shaw Group, CH2M Hill, and Fluor immediately after Katrina hit. Riley Bechtel, CEO of Bechtel Corporation, served on President Bush’s Export Council during 2003-2004. A lobbyist for the Shaw Group, Joe Allbaugh, is a former FEMA Director and friend of President Bush. The President and Group Chief Executive of the International Group at CH2MHill is Robert Card, appointed by President Bush as undersecretary to the US Department of Energy until 2004. Card also worked at CH2M Hill before signing up with President Bush”.

But what of the people of New Orleans who were washed out by the flood into other parts

of the country; where are they? How are they coping?

According to a recent article in Newsweek Magazine, five American cities are shouldering the majority of the people displaced by Katrina. Houston leads the cities with the largest number which stands at about 150,000, while San Antonio has about 15,000. According to the report, “Nearly half the 15,000 evacuees still in San Antonio have a family member suffering from a chronic medical condition. Most are unskilled or unemployed, and in need of housing. One evacuee talked of nightmares: "I have dreams that I didn't make it."

According to the Newsweek report, “Most families (in Houston) earn about $26,360. Blamed for overcrowding and a rise in crime, evacuees feel so stigmatized that they often hide their identity when applying for jobs or social services”.

In Louisiana, 73,000 families are living in FEMA trailers, but more than 160,000 families are still waiting for trailers in St. Bernard Parish.

It is hard to imagine why after all those billions of dollars; more progress has not been made? It is even more shameful that a significant amount of that money has gone to line the corporate pockets of well connected “Bush Backers”.

At this rate, if the people from New Orleans are still depending on the Bush administration to get things right, they’ll be waiting forever.





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