Bonnie Krenz
12.000
Group 6


Sources

Brodie, M., Weltzien, E., Altman, D., Blendon, R. J., & Benson, J.M. (2006, August). Experiences of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in Houston Shelters: Implications for Future Planning. American Journal of Public Health, 96(8), 1402-1409.

This article, which was written based on a study of Katrina survivors shortly after the hurricane, stresses the importance of better disaster preparedness and evacuation plans. In particular, this article differs from the many others that criticize the government's response to the hurricane because it is based on data that show not only how many people weren't rescued, but the types of people and the areas they come from, so that specific evacuation and rescue plans and practices can be targeted for improvement, based on where they fell short in Katrina. The figures and statistics this article provides will also be useful in profiling the area.

Chapelle, K. (2006, August 28). One Year After Katrina: The Progress, The Hope, The Anger, The Recovery. Jet, p. 6-12.

Chapelle examines the progress that has been made over the past year not only in New Orleans, but also in other areas that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina, including Mississippi. He notes that other areas seem to be recovering more quickly than New Orleans is. In New Orleans, former residents are moving at a slow pace, perhaps due to the lack of a comprehensive rebuilding plan, but businesses have come back at a much faster pace. The Louis Armstrong International Airport, Amtrak, and many hotels are back up and running close to the levels they were at before the storm.

Chapple, C. (2006, September 21). Residents Find Zoning Proposal Lacking. The Times-Picayune, p. n/a.

New zoning codes proposed in New Orleans would create new zoning classifications and eliminate certain types of permits. While most people believe the old zoning codes need to be updated, there was a fair amount of protest when this proposal was made. This situation provides and example of the existant, though very slow-moving, efforts at redeveloping the area.

City of New Orleans (2006, August 10). Residents take pride in New Orleans. US Fed News Service, Including US State News, p. n/a.

The City of New Orleans Department of Sanitation scheduled three city clean-up days in August. On each of these days, residents were supposed to come and work as a community to clean up the city. This article is significant to our topic because it is evidence of how, up to this point, most of the work that has been done has gotten done through smaller groups taking initiative to clean, build, etc. Though significant work has gotten done through events such as this one, this work has not happened under the context of a unified clean-up plan.

Donze, F. (2006, September 21). Inspector General Plan Wins Support. The Times-Picayune, p. n/a.

This New Orleans local news article highlights a plan for a "watchdog agency" to curb corruption in the city's government. Five out of the seven City Council members support the plan. New Orleans has a history of and reputation for corruption in high places, and whatever reconstruction plans are developed, it will be impossible to implement them without being able to watch and check corruption, especially with so much money being invested in the city.

Kettl, D. F. (2006, March). Is the Worst Yet to Come? Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 604(0) 273-287.

This article provides an analysis of the government's actions in response to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, it draws parallels between Hurricane Katrina and September 11 - the two largest crises of the United States in at least the past decade. Given the different nature of the two events, they required somewhat different response strategies, but nonetheless both necessitated immediate and strong government action. The wider perspective on government action given here will aid in our analysis of government response strategies.

Kousky, C., Luttmer, E. F. P., & Zeckhauser, R. J. (2006). Private Investment and Government Protection. National Bureau of Economic Research, p. n/a.

This working paper approaches the problem of the levees and government and private investment from an economic standpoint: the goal is to maximize social welfare, and in order to do that we must assess the marginal social value of both government and private investments, given that private investments will only occur if there is a direct benefit to the investor and the investor has the capability to make the investment. When evaluating government plans, a data-driven analysis such as this one can provide excellent support and guidance.

Laska, S.B., & Spain, D. (1979, October). Urban Policy and Planning in the Wake of Gentrification. American Planning Association, 45(4) 523.

Though this article is from 1979, it is applicable to today's problem because it provides a historical context for the culture of the city. New Orleans was a case study for racial relations and urban revitalization long before Hurricane Katrina ever hit, which makes dealing with those issues now even more difficult. In terms of planning for reconstruction today, the city's historical divisions, both geographic and cultural, will have to be taken into account and dealt with as sensitively as possible.

Mulrine, A. (2006, September 4). Freret Street Revisited. US News & World Report, 141(8) 38-42.

Like many articles, this one profiles the devastation and destruction remaining in New Orleans a full year after Hurricane Katrina - what makes this article distinctive is that it goes into detail on several areas, discussing specific families and their stories, describing particular buildings that have yet to be gutted or refurbished, paining a picture not only of the city but of its smaller, more personal components as well. It also discusses plans for a more unified effort at rebuilding the city - however, right now, the extent of those plans  involves using a mere $3.5 million from the Rockefeller foundation  - a step in the right direction, but not much in the wake of all that needs to be done.

Nigg, J. M., Barnshaw, J. & Torres, M. R. (2006, March). Hurricane Katrina and the Flooding of New Orleans: Emergent Issues in Sheltering and Temporary Housing. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 604(0) 113-128.

This article provides an extensive amount of relevant information. Beginning with what happened during the hurricane, it reviews how the government acted, including evacuation plans and how and where they failed. It continues on with the situation a few weeks after the hurricane, dealing with temporary housing for all the displaced residents - what the plans were, what the resources were, how well people were actually taken care of. Finally, it briefly touches on the situation of residents today - how many are "home," how many are still living as refugees. This article should be an excellent resource in assessing the government's actions and devising a plan to improve government disaster response.

Ritea, S. (2006, September 21). System Has 1/3 Its Pre-Storm Students. The Times-Picayune, p. n/a.

One of the most diffcicult parts of the process of forming plans for the redevelopment of New Orleans has been dealing with the lack of information about the current state of the area, including how many residents have returned. This article provides one measure of getting this information: looking at how many children returned to school this fall. The results: schools overall have about a third the number of students they did pre-hurricane. In addition, this information helps us focus on one specific part of the redevelopment process: restoring systems such as public schools in order to ensure the city's survival in the long run.

Robinson-English, T. (2006, September). The Road To Recovery Along The Gulf Coast. Ebony, 61(11)  138-143.

One year after the hurricane, New Orleans is still in a state of devastation. Robinson-English describes the many areas of New Orleans that have yet to be rebuilt, and focuses on the state of the residents - in particular, the vast numbers of people living in FEMA trailors where their homes used to be. He also provides statistics on numbers of people returned, returned to homes, returned to trailors, killed in the hurricane, and more.

Sharpe, M. (2006, January). New Orleans: A Modest Proposal. Challenge, 49(1) 130-131.

This article starts out with a serious tone, discussing the devastation of people who have lost everything as a result of the hurricane. However, it takes a turn and, though it still sounds serious, carries a biting sarcasm and huge amount of irony as the author discusses his "modest proposal" for New Orleans: just turn it into a theme park. (The title of this article is a reference to an old English piece of writing, "A Modest Proposal," that states that the way to deal with hunger and overpopulation is to start eating children.) While not a typical reference source, this article does provide an interesting perspective, and emphasises that in our plans, we are dealing with people, not just land, and many people have very strong opinions on the land that was once their home.

Thomas, G. (2006, September 19). Condominiums Planned for Abandoned Hospital. The Times-Picayune, p. n/a.

This article discusses an example of the reconstruction that is currently happenning in New Orleans: reconstruction is occurring, but only in pieces, project by project, as with this project here. The Sara Mayo hospital was destroyed in the hurricane, and rather than rebuild the hospital, developers are turning the land into a condominium complex, which they hope will attract businesses to the area and revitalize the community.

Walsh, B. (2006, September 21). Plan for Evacuation Pets is Mandated. The Times-Picayune, p. n/a.

Because that's what's really important - not the residents, but their pets. In all seriousness, this news article does bring up the point that many people refused to evacuate if they could not bring their pets along - a situation FEMA was not adequately prepared to deal with. As one of the steps in improving evacuation plans, Congress has decided we also need plans to evacuate pets and put them into shelters so that we don't run into problems again with not being able to evacuate residents who won't leave their pets. A small step in itself... an even smaller step in this whole process.

Zigmond, J. (2006, August 21). Creative Solutions. Modern Healthcare, 36(33) 22-24.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, more than just houses were destroyed. Many social necessities have suffered, including the health care system. Local hospitals are not only short on building space and resources, but on personnel as well. Certain hospitals have started employing "creative solutions" - increased wages, worker training programs, and other activities to get people involved in the health care system - to boost their numbers. This idea can be applied to the reconstruction of New Orleans in general - for many of the social systems that are down, "typical" methods may not carry the force necessary to get back to pre-hurricane status.