Mike Klein

A Perfect Storm Meets the Perfect Storm

I recently spent five days in New Orleans assisting a delegation of New York business, civic, and tourism industry leaders in the first organized effort to promote and revitalize the local economy, historically dominated by tourism, since Hurricane Katrina has been slow to recover. I witnessed and learned far more than I ever imagined.

Let's look at the facts, a year ago nearly 500,000 people lived in New Orleans and its immediate surroundings: today less than 100,000 can, the hurricane wiped out 275,000 homes - devastated the local infrastructure, from power lines, to sewage to their 1500 acre City Park drowned under feet of water for weeks. Only 17 of 117 public schools are reopened, churches have been washed away, the shoreline is fragile and 300,000 abandoned cars - now lay dead under the elevated highways, a burial and constant reminder of the basics that were lost and now make it nearly impossible for the regular person to start over. The poor, elderly and great share of the workforce are scattered across the country attempting to plan the rest of the lives. Jobs exist, local storefronts announce "help wanted" and Burger King offers signing bonuses to come work - housing does not. When you roam through the impacted areas from Lakeview to the Ninth Ward you see very little, just piles of debris and unimaginable destruction - houses on top of cars - cars on top of houses - trees pulled from the ground and now tossed everywhere. But, what you do not see is any sign of an army of help - heavy equipment, work trucks, even basic garbage trucks are no more.

The perfect storm that nature brought onto the Gulf Coast is evident and overwhelmingly clear to anyone that simply opens their eyes. But the disaster does not stop there - it was met by the perfect storm of the greatest collapse in American government at every level by every party with no one left outside the shame and blame. As a proud veteran of public service and one who believes that government can achieve great good for its people when focused and led, my faith was shattered and I was in total disbelief as to how this could happen here - in America. The failures at every level of government are documented, but more than five months later - no one of any party, Republican or Democrat, has been able to get past their own inadequacies and find a solution. Where is the massive Marshall Plan of an idea that would restore one of the greatest natural and cultural assets of this country - and along the way - say to the people of this nation, that we can organize relief and rebuild as effectively as we can wage war? New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast needs us to wage a War on indifference and a political system that has sunk under the raging waters of Katrina.

New Orleans now faces local elections. Who knows - maybe change will be good, maybe the crisis will stir leadership to the top and maybe we will look back a year from now and think, "Wow - they turned it around." We have to believe, we have to hope - because the folks at Mother's Restaurant in downtown may have had their homes destroyed, but have moved into white trailers in the parking lot to keep their historic and delicious New Orleans spot open. They need someone to step up, need all of us to step up - and fast, before hurricane season comes again.

Mike Klein
New York City

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Posted at 4:06 PM, Feb 27, 2006 in Hurricane Katrina
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