When the Saints come marching in
Right now I'm watching the MNF game between Atlanta and New Orleans, the much-hyped reopening of the Superdome. This is obviously a big moment in the rebirth of the great city of New Orleans, but it begs the question what does the future hold for New Orleans?
When, if ever, will pre-Katrina population levels return? This seemingly simple question spawns a slew of intriguing questions. How long is the rebuilding process going to take? We are a year removed from the hurricane and much of the city has been leveled but for the most part new construction has yet to commence. Will the people come back, or will the city die a slow death, relegated to history books and adventure travelers like so many Mayan ruins, a relic of an era gone by.
Second, will the rebuilding process yield an improvement in the city? Before Katrina New Orleans was one of the poorest and most uneducated of large American cities, now the city has been presented with an opportunity unique in the annals of history, an opportunity to rebuild, Sim City-like, nearly from scratch. Can they improve their schools and infrastructure? Will they take the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all citizens.
Third, has the government learned it's lesson in the wake of it's massive humanitarian failure? Last week I watched "When the Levees Broke," Spike Lee's moving documentary about the hurricane and it's aftermath and some of the stories are simply astounding. People stranded for days at the Convention Center, interstate onramps, and the Superdome; people sent to far flung locations without knowledge of where they were headed, families scattered to the wind all across the country, and death in spades. Remember it took days for basic needs items like food to arrive in New Orleans at the places where people were stranded. It took days for transportation out of the city to arrive. People have waited months upon months for FEMA trailers to arrive and then not have the keys arrive to, rendering the trailer useless. The government failed on all levels on this, city, state, and federal. The racial issues in this case have been widely discussed, I believe that while not wholly true there is probably a nugget of truth to the claim of racism, I just can't imagine this type of response if the city in question was say Minneapolis. On the other hand, a disaster of this scope hasn't ever occurred and while there had been various doomsday scenarios tossed about regarding the levees in New Orleans I think they were mostly taken with a grain of salt. It certainly isn't beyond reason to imagine that all the levels of government involved were simply underprepared and overwhelmed by the situation, thus causing the now familiar scenes of hopelessness, desperation, and despair.
Whatever happens, the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina will be indelibly etched in the consciousness of Americans for generations, and hopefully the Saints will keep on marching and no one will have to march second line in the the funeral of a great American city.
When, if ever, will pre-Katrina population levels return? This seemingly simple question spawns a slew of intriguing questions. How long is the rebuilding process going to take? We are a year removed from the hurricane and much of the city has been leveled but for the most part new construction has yet to commence. Will the people come back, or will the city die a slow death, relegated to history books and adventure travelers like so many Mayan ruins, a relic of an era gone by.
Second, will the rebuilding process yield an improvement in the city? Before Katrina New Orleans was one of the poorest and most uneducated of large American cities, now the city has been presented with an opportunity unique in the annals of history, an opportunity to rebuild, Sim City-like, nearly from scratch. Can they improve their schools and infrastructure? Will they take the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all citizens.
Third, has the government learned it's lesson in the wake of it's massive humanitarian failure? Last week I watched "When the Levees Broke," Spike Lee's moving documentary about the hurricane and it's aftermath and some of the stories are simply astounding. People stranded for days at the Convention Center, interstate onramps, and the Superdome; people sent to far flung locations without knowledge of where they were headed, families scattered to the wind all across the country, and death in spades. Remember it took days for basic needs items like food to arrive in New Orleans at the places where people were stranded. It took days for transportation out of the city to arrive. People have waited months upon months for FEMA trailers to arrive and then not have the keys arrive to, rendering the trailer useless. The government failed on all levels on this, city, state, and federal. The racial issues in this case have been widely discussed, I believe that while not wholly true there is probably a nugget of truth to the claim of racism, I just can't imagine this type of response if the city in question was say Minneapolis. On the other hand, a disaster of this scope hasn't ever occurred and while there had been various doomsday scenarios tossed about regarding the levees in New Orleans I think they were mostly taken with a grain of salt. It certainly isn't beyond reason to imagine that all the levels of government involved were simply underprepared and overwhelmed by the situation, thus causing the now familiar scenes of hopelessness, desperation, and despair.
Whatever happens, the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina will be indelibly etched in the consciousness of Americans for generations, and hopefully the Saints will keep on marching and no one will have to march second line in the the funeral of a great American city.
posted by Chris at 7:03 PM
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