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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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February
2006
Volume
10 - Number 1 |
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Chris Thompson In the wake of four months’ recovery to the devastating aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, political and personal tragedies resonate. The planned partnership between government entities – local, state, and federal – and the people onto which Katrina and Rita imposed, draws concern as many are left homeless and abandoned, months later. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) most recent disaster assistance application records, over 2.5 million people in the US have requested federal aid as of January 27, 2006. Though more than one million of those have made the request from the state of Louisiana, every state, including the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, among others, has been represented in FEMA applicant records. At present, totals show that better than 91% of applicants have registered for aid from within the four most heavily impacted states (LA, TX, MS, AL). Other states hosting high numbers of applicants include Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, California, and Arkansas. Current FEMA reports show that nearly 1.9 million of the 2.5 million total disaster assistance applicants (76%) now reside in US Census Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The most significant of these (in terms of population) is the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner MSA in Louisiana. With approximately 365,000 individuals seeking aid, the area harbors the largest group of victims in the whole of the US. In Houston, Texas and its surrounding communities, not quite 318,000 people, seek federal aid as these victims of both storms join in hope and recovery. In total, 74 US cities are home to 1,000 applicants or more and 18 cities host 10,000 applicants or more. Four cities are home to more than 100,000 (New Orleans [365,000], Houston [318,000], Baton Rouge [188,000], and Beaumont-Port Arthur [132,448]). Washington, DC has 4,551 registered applicants. Reconstruction has a high priority, but housing the thousands of displaced citizens is one that is of immediate necessity. Though many have found refuge in the homes of family members and friends, thousands are left with only the federal government to provide shelter. FEMA works jointly with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create temporary housing for displaced victims. According to a February, 2006 FEMA publication, FEMA and HUD have created 90,412 total housing units in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, with 79,798 of those already occupied. Among these units are trailers, mobile homes, and hotels. It is impossible to say how many of these people will ever return to the areas from which they evacuated. Many have already begun new lives. Many have little or nothing for which they would return. According to the January 23 issue of Time, plans are being continually developed to revitalize the city of New Orleans through park creation, a new jazz center, and charter schools. Still, there is little confidence in the city’s ability to support growth financially “with nearly half of the city’s pre-Katrina population not expected to return.” For more information on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, visit FEMA at: www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm. |