So what happens intermediate term? (1 yr)

[Taro T]

Ok, now that its all been settled that the whole thing was Nagin's fault, or Blanco's fault, or Bush's fault; etc. etc. and NO is starting to get drained, are there any guesses as to how the next 6 months to 2 years play out?

 

There are now something like 1MM people displaced from 3 states. I am certain that local, state, and federal officials have "plans" for what to do following a disaster. I just would be surprised if any of the details of the plans have been thought out, as we have NEVER had a disaster of this magnitude on US soil. This is NOT a knock on the planners, it is just my perception of reality. (plan says people go to x and y happens - unfortunately plan doesn't have details of how 250,000 people get to x) If the plan goes FAIRLY smoothly, I will view that as a monstrously good accomplishment.

 

Are there going to be efforts to provide these people jobs in the intermediate term, and are they going to be headed up by govt. or private organizations? Will these people remain concentrated in Texas and Baton Rouge or will they spread across the US? Are the jobs "temporary" with the expectation that the people go back to NO (or Biloxi, or Gulfport, etc.) when rehabitable, or are they "permanent" and NO is much smaller in its next incarnation?

 

I've heard some reports that the business district of NO wasn't beat up as bad as other parts of the city, which would indicate that people could come back to work in fairly short order; but if there isn't anything habitable, could they? Also, just because the main employers could get their people back; would any of the support - grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, necessary be functional? Do the major employers take temporary offices in other cities with plans to return to NO when the support functions are available?

 

I am certain that some of the people will find jobs elsewhere on their own, but with 500,000 - 1MM newly displaced workers, I expect it will generally be difficult for most to find new jobs in what is typically considered a reasonable amount of time.

 

Assuming, NO gets rebuilt (and Biloxi and Gulfport as well), will this result in a renaissance for the city; or will the "best and brightest" find jobs elsewhere in the country, leaving an even greater concentration of low income people in the rebuilt city? I know NO is a major port, but I would imagine that a lot of the "port" activities could be transferred to Baton Rouge. EII and others - is this a plausible scenario?

 

Will Congress actually wait a couple of months to begin hearings, so that the people trying to direct this effort will be able to do what they are supposed to (or at least try) rather than sit in hearings - talking about what they did or did not do in the past rather than doing what they should at the present time; or will the opportunity to try to score political points be overwhelming - much like the urge to get the next fix is to an addict? Unfortunately, I think I know the answer to that one. (Here's your fix, Mr. or Ms. Congresscritter.)

 

I have lived through Andrew's Louisiana foray, but have never been associated with something at this massive a scale. I, obviously, have not been involved with disaster recovery, so any insight from people who do have experience with this will be particularily appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Dave.

[blzrul]

I spoke with a friend of mine about and hour ago. He was involved with some of the airlifts of people to Houston. He was down at the stadium complex last night and said it's already going to heck. He said that they really don't know where to put all the people and keeping them in a stadium long-term isn't going to work. THEY are going crazy and the relief workers can't place them fast enough. They need housing, jobs and more. And they're moving slowly on the private placements because BOTH parties need to be protected. Here in Seattle they've put them on an army base in some empty housing, so that's an improvement over stadiums etc. but it's going to take a lot of work to get them settled anywhere. We offered to house someone but by the time both we and they go through the background check it will probably be weeks.

 

I think that hearings are in order but not for awhile because we not only need to know why there were so many problems in the days before and just after the hurrican, but also how the post-evacuation process worked too. It's going to take time to get that all sorted out.

[Taro T]

I spoke with a friend of mine about and hour ago.  He was involved with some of the airlifts of people to Houston.  He was down at the stadium complex last night and said it's already going to heck.  He said that they really don't know where to put all the people and keeping them in a stadium long-term isn't going to work.  THEY are going crazy and the relief workers can't place them fast enough.  They need housing, jobs and more. 

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How are they working the relief effort in the dome? I heard that they are giving the people staying there access to showers and 3 hot meals per day and have set up a postal address for the dome. Are they letting the people in and out of the complex, or are people stuck inside the dome 24 /7? If they are letting people outside, what are the people doing for money and transportation. There isn't exactly a whole lot to do in that part of Houston, or at least there wasn't 10 years ago.

 

Thanks,

Dave.

[blzrul]

How are they working the relief effort in the dome?  I heard that they are giving the people staying there access to showers and 3 hot meals per day and have set up a postal address for the dome.  Are they letting the people in and out of the complex, or are people stuck inside the dome 24 /7?  If they are letting people outside, what are the people doing for money and transportation.  There isn't exactly a whole lot to do in that part of Houston, or at least there wasn't 10 years ago.

 

Thanks,

Dave.

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Well right now they don't have anywhere to go most of them, so they're trying to get them with caseworkers, find out if they are lost or have family members lost, assess their needs. Agreed that physically they're better off than they were though.

 

The Reliant Stadium complex is right next door (relatively speaking) so on game day they can watch the circus parade in and out but there really isn't much to do around there and I'm not sure about public transportation.

 

I'll be talking to my friend in a couple of days and see what's up then. But the way he was talking surprised me, I thought the overwhelming feeling would be of relief but that's not the case according to him.

[Taro T]

Well right now they don't have anywhere to go most of them, so they're trying to get them with caseworkers, find out if they are lost or have family members lost, assess their needs.  Agreed that physically they're better off than they were though.

 

The Reliant Stadium complex is right next door (relatively speaking) so on game day they can watch the circus parade in and out but there really isn't much to do around there and I'm not sure about public transportation. 

 

I'll be talking to my friend in a couple of days and see what's up then.  But the way he was talking surprised me, I thought the overwhelming feeling would be of relief but that's not the case according to him.

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Thanks for the update. If you do hear more of what is "actually" going on down there, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

 

As for the people being testy, that doesn't surprise me much. We've lost power in the Rochester area for multiple days a few times, and that MINOR difficulty can make normal life very difficult. These people are being kept in close quarters with thousands of others, with little privacy, few of the amenities of home and tremendous uncertainty about the status of loved ones and their former/new lives. I would not be surprised to see that situation become ugly if it lasts for much more than another week.

 

Hopefully, more "homelike" accomodations can be made in the near future. You mentioned the possibility of using old army barracks. That isn't a perfect solution, but sharing quarters with 20 people and having trees and lawns around has to beat sharing quarters with 10,000+ and having pavement outside, if the people can even go outside.

 

Dave.

[blzrul]

People ARE being moved out, to hotels and family residences, which is a good thing.

 

Did you see that Carnival has offered up cruise ships but the people are slow to take advantage of it. One woman was interviewed and said she'd seen enough water to last a lifetime. Now a cruise ship is definitely more comfortable than a stadium! But in a way I don't blame her.

 

I remember the ice storms. I was lucky enough to have a ski vacation booked right in the middle of the big one and left town, only to watch it all on CNN at the ski lodge. My mom was without power for two weeks. Ugh.

 

We were supposed to get 3000 evacuees up here but that's not panning out. I think that for the next couple of weeks they'll be ok where they are until the shock wears off somewhat. I think the people who did get flown out, many of them, may wake up next week and wonder how they got so far and what the @#$@ they're gonna do now.

[Ghost of BiB]

I spoke with a friend of mine about and hour ago.  He was involved with some of the airlifts of people to Houston.  He was down at the stadium complex last night and said it's already going to heck.  He said that they really don't know where to put all the people and keeping them in a stadium long-term isn't going to work.  THEY are going crazy and the relief workers can't place them fast enough.  They need housing, jobs and more.  And they're moving slowly on the private placements because BOTH parties need to be protected.  Here in Seattle they've put them on an army base in some empty housing, so that's an improvement over stadiums etc. but it's going to take a lot of work to get them settled anywhere.  We offered to house someone but by the time both we and they go through the background check it will probably be weeks.

 

I think that hearings are in order but not for awhile because we not only need to know why there were so many problems in the days before and just after the hurrican, but also how the post-evacuation process worked too.  It's going to take time to get that all sorted out.

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Right now the target day to get everyone currently in shelters out of temporary shelters is 18 days. Various factions of government are arranging the housing, from leasing to actually purchasing several hundred thousand trailers. Not only do the displaced have to be housed, but the thousands upon thousands of personnel required for the recovery. I don't know anything about jobs. Hearings? Right. We have to have an in place plan to house a million people for more than a year ata atime, or we are bad and don't care.

[Mickey]

My wife and I were in the market for a full time babysitter anyway and have the space for a live-in so that we could provide room and board as well as a weekly stipend. She contacted a staffing agency which "volunteered" to help Katrina victims find work. As it turns out, what they have volunteered to do is to charge would be employers $5,000 to list the job they want to fill. Nice.

[pope zimli]

My wife and I were in the market for a full time babysitter anyway and have the space for a live-in so that we could provide room and board as well as a weekly stipend.  She contacted a staffing agency which "volunteered" to help Katrina victims find work.  As it turns out, what they have volunteered to do is to charge would be employers $5,000 to list the job they want to fill.  Nice.

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I just got back from two shelters that we are rehabbing which will probably house over 100 families for the next year until they get on their feet. We have clothes, food and a lot of churches, fraternities and sororities helping out. The Salvation Army and others are going to help with finding employment and the school district is taking the kids. We operate on the assumption that most of the families will stay at least a year, so we rejected the "dome"/cot/camp concept. You raise some great points. The problems with this evacuation are far from over and will probably require a lot of planning at all levels.

[Ghost of BiB]

Currently it's estimated that it will take up to 3-4 years to get everyone into permanent housing. Several millions have been released to provide for 25,000 immediate temporary jobs related to clean up and recovery. More will follow.

[Taro T]

Currently it's estimated that it will take up to 3-4 years to get everyone into permanent housing. Several millions have been released to provide for 25,000 immediate temporary jobs related to clean up and recovery. More will follow.

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Thanks for update.

 

Dave.

[VABills]

HUD is working hard and heavy to find empty unit in MF units around the country.

[Taro T]

HUD is working hard and heavy to find empty unit in MF units around the country.

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Seneca county has been trying hard and unsuccessfully for a few years to figure out what to do with the old Seneca Army Depot. Any word on whether that is one of the facilities they are looking at?

 

Dave.

[VABills]

Seneca county has been trying hard and unsuccessfully for a few years to figure out what to do with the old Seneca Army Depot.  Any word on whether that is one of the facilities they are looking at?

 

Dave.

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They are looking more toward the cities and as close to NO as possible to not disrupt them too much. In additional they want to put them somewhere close to jobs, so with the tax and ruin business mentality of New York state I doubt it.