The Realities of Katrina and Economic Recovery

GCN Opinion

Realities of Katrina and Economic Recovery
by Keith Burton - GCN 2/21/09

Nearly four years after hurricane Katrina, nearly two-thirds of the federal money promised by Congress to help Mississippi and Louisiana recover has yet to be spent. While $5.8 billion in federal aid was promised, more than $3.9 billion remains unspent to make permanent repairs and replacements for public works damaged by the hurricanes. The why is a convoluted story of regulations, and uncertainty of how to proceed. Throughout the region the damages remain evident in the lack of rebuilt public buildings and services. In many cases, the problems stem from local governments which struggle to meet the matching payments to receive the assistance and the high cost of replacing what was lost.

There has also been an issue of manpower at local levels to sort through the regulatory process in getting the funds to do the work. These are not new issues, GCN has been commenting on the difficulties since the hurricane hit the Coast on August 29, 2005. While tremendous progress has been made, that progress is tempered by work that often exceeds local government staffing abilities to solve the problems. From the beginning, local authorities have not received funds to hire additional staffing to move the process more efficiently forward. In most cases, the counties and communities have had to work with diminishing budgets and staff and with the growing tax losses from the struggling economy, even more pressure is on local governments to get the work done.

If the new federal stimulus bill passed by Congress moves as haltingly as the federal Katrina recovery programs, the nation will soon experience what those of us in the Katrina disaster area already know. Don't count on help that is timely or efficient, and don't expect your local officials to do more without the money to get the help they need.

The federal government has agreed to give victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, who are still living in federally supplied trailers or staying at hotels or motels, 60 more days to find more permanent lodging. Nearly 6,870 travel trailers and mobile homes remain in four states more than three years after the storms in Mississippi and in Louisiana. Most of the units are on private sites, often in front of houses people are trying to rebuild. Another 318 households are in hotels or motels, according to government officials

The aid program had been set to expire March 1. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the states can request an extension to May 1. While the total numbers of people still without a permanent housing solution are not as great as the area's population, the numbers don't reflect any less of a problem. There are many more people that are receiving housing subsidies in apartments and rental homes that they cannot afford without financial aid. Those people face a possible situation where they may be evicted if the housing aid money ends. (More here)

Homelessness and the potential for homelessness remains a real issue in the smaller and poorer communities in the Katrina Disaster zone. The people affected are not just the poor, but include the elderly on fixed incomes and illegal immigrants who struggle every day to meet the higher costs of just day to day living. What is alarming is that the traditional safety nets established to help such people are already stressed to the maximum and with the growing economic concerns Katrina recovery volunteers, community service workers and local government officials see a developing problem growing much worse.

There are already indications that the economic situation is affecting young adults and families who have not before faced issues of income loss and the potential loss of housing and who were not part of the initial Katrina disaster affects. Affordable housing, even affordable apartments still are not available in the numbers that are anticipated to be needed.