Rebuilding New or Leans

Published 17 Feb 2017

Table of content

Introduction

The destructive effects of the August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina had necessitated the government to rebuild New Orleans to help resettle the people who were displaced. This was a positive recovery technique to the people who had lost all the property that they had. The new or leans have made many people who could otherwise become miserable settle comfortably. In the process of rebuilding the government had introduced the basic essentials to the victims. The government’s effort to rebuild was welcomed from the members of the community. This implies that the recovery process is a positive way that promotes the human dignity of the victims. Even if it had to take time to start reconstruction, five months after the Hurricane Katrina swamped New or leans, president bush’s government promised to rebuild the gulf coast. (Treaster, 2006)

This paper will provide comparative and historical analyses on the reconstruction efforts by the government on the New Orleans city after the Hurricane Katrina. In addition the current problems faced by the government in the building process are given indebt analysis. Reducing the occurrence of any disaster later is the ultimate goal to the process of reducing the risks associated. The catastrophe which lead to the death of about 1570 people and the loss of approximately $50 billion worthy losses, still remain fresh in the minds of the people. The historical experience provides an avenue for the rebuilding process.

Major challenges in the rebuilding process

The major challenge was to make the city rise from the waters. The government had to consolidate money to be used to build houses for the victims. A lot of debate came up over the how to rebuild the new or leans. The government however could not be able to restore the full properties of the victims. Initially the government had taken full responsibility to build only 20,000 houses while leaving over 180,000 homes in the hands of the insurance companies. This became as a hindrance to the whole process of rebuilding the New Orleans.

It followed that minus the government much of the city would not be developed. The New Orleans required millions of money within a short area as the debris were high labor intensive as well they required high capital investments especially on the machines. The bureaucratic delays have made it difficult for the rebuilding process. The reason is that the government had to work with other stakeholders to provide for the rebuilding process.
There is a controversy about the building of the levees and sea gates as most commentators have argued that such structures might equally make the city vulnerable to terrorism. The reason is that a port city is more vulnerable to terrorism than an inland one as it become difficult to defect terrorists when they approach from the sea. This is another big challenge in the increased trends of terrorist attack. Therefore massive amounts of money can be devoted to protect the vulnerable rebuild city from terrorism. New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina is becoming more vulnerable to very many disasters. The big challenge here for the government building New Orleans is to rebuild the lives of the people, who were disoriented by the Hurricane Katrina. (Jed, 2006)

The city was not able to collect taxes since all the properties were destroyed and even the businesses closed down. The high financial requirements that are required to rebuild the city have forced the government to impose high tax so as to build the necessary structures in the city. Tax payers are now asked to pay billions of money to rebuild the city. Building of residential houses and commercial houses among other structure requires a massive financial input which can only be achieved through the taxes. Above all large investment is required in protecting the city against all the eventualities especially the building of levees. Then it implies that the whole burden of reconstructing New Orleans lies on the government. The government has planned to enhance security guarantee by developing New Orleans storm control mechanisms. This aimed at reducing the possibility of the storm destroying the now rebuild New or Leans.

Role of technology is paramount for the whole process of rebuilding. This requires the contracting of scientists, Engineers and architects who should establish a proper framework that would reduce these uncertainties. The government has to initiate this multi-billion project and this will strengthen the Louisiana gulf that is vulnerable. It is evident that the floods that followed after the Hurricane Katrina were very devastating. These calls for long term rebuilding of the New or leans especially for the flood protection. The government in this respect is committed to rebuilding new flood gates and levees so as to reduce the possibility of the storms destroying the region. The whole system of transport and communication was destroyed and the government in partnership with other stakeholders is trying had to put in place the proper transport and communication so as to attract people into the city.

The government’s response to this disaster has been very slow which has made difficult for the reconstruction of the city. Most of the victims who had mortgage insurance covers were advised by the government to seek funds from those companies so as to reconstruct their houses. In this response the insurance companies can not be able to carry out compensation since the destruction required a massive capital. New Orleans skill remains vulnerable as to flooding it below a sea level.

Recommendations

The decision to rebuild the city by the government has been hindered by the large financial requirements. This is because most of the residents had not taken any insurance cover to cater for such disaster. The government should therefore encourage the people to take insurance cover to cater for the costs of such a disaster. Disaster management techniques have to be put in place so as to reduce the uncertainties associated. (Mattei, 2006)
The levees that broke during hurricane Katrina since then have not been rebuilt. Actually after hurricane Katrina massive flooding occurred and it destroyed billions of property. There have been very commitments to rebuild the city in spite of the high financial requirements. The best method is to reclaim the city’s value has been rebuilding the levees which were destroyed by the hurricane Katrina. This should then be followed by the construction of commercial and residential facilities and infrastructure.

The flood control which has prevented the Mississippi river from depositing sediment to renew the subsiding silt that the city is build on has made the city to more vulnerable to sinking. It is of urgency for the government to respond to such risks before they turn out tragic. The government should be at a position to detect the dangers posed and evacuate people in advance. Not only New Orleans is vulnerable to such risks but also other cities near the oceans, lakes and seas are subject to such dangers. New York City is an example of those that are vulnerable as it is near the ocean. All these dangers posed can be prevented by building dry levees through these cities to prevent future flooding.

New Orleans is a city is threatened of abandonment if the government does not put in place the capital to build it so as to restore it lost glory. A permanent solution should be searched for better infrastructure in the New Orleans would make it safer. Generally the New Orleans city should rebuild very carefully and differently. New Orleans as it is would require continuous infusions of massive resources into the rebuilding process. The best solution is that the low level areas should not rebuild at all and the levees should be properly rebuild and maintained so as to minimize any occurrence of the disaster.

Conclusion

Hurricane Katrina is a subject of discussion among the victims of New Orleans city. The way forward for the effective method of rebuilding and resettling for the New Orleans is to reduce the possibility the tragedy occurring thereafter. Provision of schools, hospitals and other facilities is likely to influence former and new residents to move to the city and settle there without any fear. How to rebuild New Orleans differently remains the major point of concern for United States government. (Wachter, 2006)

References

  • EL Birch, SM Wachter (2006) Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Horne, Jed (2006). Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City. New York, NY: Random House
  • Joseph B. Treaster Hurricane Katrina – The New York Times,Sunday, December 16, 2007
  • Norma Jean Mattei (2006) Rebuilding Metro New Orleans after Katrina: Louisiana’s New Statewide Building Code. University of New Orleans
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