|  not New Orleans?
I've asked this question pretty often over the last 4 years. I've received some pretty good answers, some piss poor answers and a lot of dodges.
The answer really has little to do with hurricanes themselves, or the dynamics of modern emergency mitigation, prevention, response and recovery. It really even goes beyond simple politics, although politics does play a part. The answer is a study in sociology itself.
Some people think that Emergency Management is about throwing money into a disaster area. Others think that it's about lining up good hearted and strong backed helping hands. Still others think time heals all wounds, and given enough of it, recovery just naturally happens.
When people attack the problem with any of the above attitudes, one result will happen... a lot of wasted money, manpower and time.
Hurricane Katrina didn't hit New Orleans with the force of a Cat 5 hurricane. According to the National Hurricane Center, NO was hit with the force of a Cat 1 or 2 storm. The bulk of Katrina missed New Orleans all together.
That is not to say that NO wasn't devestated, far from it... The broken flood walls and levies made up for what Katrina missed.
But NO isn't the first major city to be devastated by floods, nor will it be the last. But it has had the most money, manpower and time thrown at it... but mostly for naught.
So why is New Orleans still wallowing in the aftermath of a storm and flood that's been history for 4 years? Why are the areas that were hit so much harder by Katrina.. then Rita done with their recovery, but NO isn't?
First of all... the governments of the other cities and states actually followed their Emergency Management Protocols, which that drunken idiot Nagin refused to do. But that also is only part of the problem.
The real problem lies with the sociology of the area compared to that of other hurricane prone places.
Every disaster scene that I've been on, the people of the area have played a major roll in the recovery. Yes, they were evacuated, and most the time they weren't allowed back to their homes immediately. However, after the initial assessments and heavy duty activities were accomplished the people were allowed to return.
They were part of the strong backed helping hands that did the hard work. They were there when we (the emergency response workers) drove into their neighborhoods with basic supplies to aid in their work in the recovery.
We brought basic supplies like plywood, plastic sheeting, nails, and other things so they could cover the holes in their roofs... However, we also took the opportunity to talk to them. We listened to what they said about more specific needs. Did they need port-a-pots, dumpsters, diapers, sanitary products.. etc.
One of the tragedies about Katrina was, the people who were most invested in the recovery efforts were quickly removed from the area. Kind hearted people from all over the country took them in to their homes and neighborhoods. Now, there was nothing wrong with the wonderful gesture, but as soon as it was safe, the people needed to be returned to their own neighborhoods. In fact, many just plain never returned.
That one incident did more to inhibit a healthy recovery than anything other thing.
Next to it though was just plain dependence. When generation after generation is taught that, if there is a problem, there someone in the government responsible for the solution, what happens when the infrasructure fails?
The people most reliant on the government for help were the ones that were abandoned by the government the quickest. The New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan's section on Hurricanes specifically stated that over 100,000 people in the city had no means of evacuation by themselves. There was a plan for what to do to help them evacuate... when the time came for preparation... that section was ignored like the rest of it.
So what happens to 100,000 people who have been told that they will be taken care of, but aren't? They wait for the help to arrive... and wait, and wait. They wait because that is all they have ever been taught to do.
The next problem was a crime of human perportions. Waste, Waste and More Waste. Thousands of National Guardsmen were deployed to NO, but when most of them got there, there was no instructions for them. Most unit commanders had to go out and find missions for their troops. The governor that requested them, had no plan once they got there.
What happens when people show up, but aren't given something to do? They either find something to do, or feel they are just in the way and go home.
Money... More money was allocated by government and private organizations for New Orleans than had ever been set aside for a single disater ever. Where did all the money go? Millions in FEMA emergency funding went to casinos, bars, stip joints, vacations and other wasteful spending.. but that wasn't the bulk of the waste.
Billions just "disappeared" without anyone investigating or questioning. That money never made it to where it was supposed to go. Instead it lined the pockets of the drunken fool Nagin, the incompetent wench Blanco and their cronies.
They killed so that they could grow rich.
So, that is the answer to the question. Other areas hit much harder by Hurricane Katrina are recovered. Cities that have been hit by hurricanes since Katrina are recovered.. But New Orleans continues to wallow in the depths of self pity.
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