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Hurricane Katrina... thoughts.
Aug. 31st, 2005 03:03 pmI orginally planned to post something lighthearted for today... But that seems inappropriate, now, when such catastrophic and momentous things are happening in my world...
For a little context, here's an encyclopedia article on the City of New Orleans, written ten years ago (my own asides are in italics):
:::Sigh::: And that's not even counting Biloxi...
I have a sinking feeling that this will be what future historians will call: "A major turning point in American history," right up there with the northern migration of freed slaves after the Civil War (War Between the States), and the southern migration of the Acadians 200 years earlier, who made N.O. a "Cajun" city... You can't just displace all those people, and shut down all that industry -- practically "erasing" a city -- without having ripples that go on for a very long way, for a very long time.
If I understood what I heard on the Noon News, today, the mayor of New Orleans is going to try to evacuate all survivors from the city, and they may not be able to return to even see their homes (much less move back in, and try to rebuild) for four months (right when the school year is about to start, too... what about all those children -- will they all fall behind, and if so, how will they catch up?). There are countless dead bodies in the water, too, and as they decompose, disease will be a major threat.
As was reported on ABC News, last night, it's always the poorest people, with the smallest safety margin, who suffer the most. You may be ordered to evacuate, but if you don't own a car, and can't afford to rent one, you're up S#!+ Creek, quite literally. If you can't afford home insurance, and you lose your home -- tough. You're barely getting by, living paycheck to paycheck (if you're lucky enough to have a job at all), and your job is literally washed away -- tough. The poorest neighborhoods in New Orleans and Biloxi are in the lowest lying areas, and are the first to flood. And then the police departments of those two cities vow to be ruthless, and crack down on looters... Gah! As if Mother Nature hasn't "cracked down" on them hard enough already. (And then, I flipped to PBS, and The Newshour, and it was reported that the number of people who fell below the poverty line grew last year, for the fourth year in a row).
The one story to come out of all of this that chills me the most, however, is this: there was a major prison in New Orleans, and the prisoners weren't allowed to evacuate. When the prison started to flood, risking the lives of everyone inside, the guards put everyone on busses, and moved them to a highway overpass. Now, the levees are breaking, the water is rising, and they are trapped there...
:::Shudder:::
In 1718, intelligent and thoughtful men conceived of God as a distant watchmaker, who had created Earth for the benefit of humanity. They had faith in human reason, and believed that we were destined to rule the stars. Back then, it seemed like glorious proof of their convictions that they could drain a swamp, build massive levees, and raise a glorious city, all below sea level. I have little doubt we will drain the water again, and reinforce those levees, and ressurect the city -- eventually. But, sooner or later, Mother Nature will take back Her own...
(I hope to return to more lighthearted posts soon.)
[Edit: And has anyone heard any news of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tinyturtle? I saw her AOL screenname (Bayoubecky) on my buddy list as late as Sunday... But I don't know if she was in the evacuation area or not... Haven't seen her online in the last couple of days...]
For a little context, here's an encyclopedia article on the City of New Orleans, written ten years ago (my own asides are in italics):
- New Orleans [. . . ]between the Mississippi R. and Lake Pontchartrain (and below sea level, to boot), 107 mi (172 km) from the river mouth; founded 1718, inc. 1805. Built on a bend in the river (hence called the Crescent City), it is protected by levees (many of which are breaking). A major international port and a center of business and banking, it is one of the largest and most important cities in the South. Its imports include coffee, and bananas; its exports, oil, chemicals, cotton, and grains. Coastwise traffic is heavy. Food processing is a major enterprise, and the area has oil, aerospace, and chemical industries (Which are now flooded, and all those chemicals are getting into the water); shipyards; and diverse manufacturing plants. The capital (from 1722) of the French colony, it became a cosmopolitan city; French influence (Creole culture) and the city's reputation for glamour and gaiety have lasted to the present. The French Quarter (Vieux Carrée), around Jackson Square, retains much of its early elegance. Contemporary landmarks include the Superdome (1975) (Which is now being evacuated, as it, too, is flooding... the refugees are being shifted to the Astrodome, in Texas) and the Hibernia Tower. Two manifestations of the city's heterogeneous culture are its famous MARDI GRAS festival and the development of JAZZ. The city was the site of the 1984 World's Fair, and gambling was legalized in 1992, with the first casino opening on a riverboat in 1993.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1995 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
:::Sigh::: And that's not even counting Biloxi...
I have a sinking feeling that this will be what future historians will call: "A major turning point in American history," right up there with the northern migration of freed slaves after the Civil War (War Between the States), and the southern migration of the Acadians 200 years earlier, who made N.O. a "Cajun" city... You can't just displace all those people, and shut down all that industry -- practically "erasing" a city -- without having ripples that go on for a very long way, for a very long time.
If I understood what I heard on the Noon News, today, the mayor of New Orleans is going to try to evacuate all survivors from the city, and they may not be able to return to even see their homes (much less move back in, and try to rebuild) for four months (right when the school year is about to start, too... what about all those children -- will they all fall behind, and if so, how will they catch up?). There are countless dead bodies in the water, too, and as they decompose, disease will be a major threat.
As was reported on ABC News, last night, it's always the poorest people, with the smallest safety margin, who suffer the most. You may be ordered to evacuate, but if you don't own a car, and can't afford to rent one, you're up S#!+ Creek, quite literally. If you can't afford home insurance, and you lose your home -- tough. You're barely getting by, living paycheck to paycheck (if you're lucky enough to have a job at all), and your job is literally washed away -- tough. The poorest neighborhoods in New Orleans and Biloxi are in the lowest lying areas, and are the first to flood. And then the police departments of those two cities vow to be ruthless, and crack down on looters... Gah! As if Mother Nature hasn't "cracked down" on them hard enough already. (And then, I flipped to PBS, and The Newshour, and it was reported that the number of people who fell below the poverty line grew last year, for the fourth year in a row).
The one story to come out of all of this that chills me the most, however, is this: there was a major prison in New Orleans, and the prisoners weren't allowed to evacuate. When the prison started to flood, risking the lives of everyone inside, the guards put everyone on busses, and moved them to a highway overpass. Now, the levees are breaking, the water is rising, and they are trapped there...
:::Shudder:::
In 1718, intelligent and thoughtful men conceived of God as a distant watchmaker, who had created Earth for the benefit of humanity. They had faith in human reason, and believed that we were destined to rule the stars. Back then, it seemed like glorious proof of their convictions that they could drain a swamp, build massive levees, and raise a glorious city, all below sea level. I have little doubt we will drain the water again, and reinforce those levees, and ressurect the city -- eventually. But, sooner or later, Mother Nature will take back Her own...
(I hope to return to more lighthearted posts soon.)
[Edit: And has anyone heard any news of
tinyturtle? I saw her AOL screenname (Bayoubecky) on my buddy list as late as Sunday... But I don't know if she was in the evacuation area or not... Haven't seen her online in the last couple of days...]
