Recovery and Reconstruction in Post-Katrina New Orleans

This chapter examines how Hurricane Katrina exposed the limitation of local, state, and federal government operations to implement an effective emergency preparedness and response plan. It first considers the post-Katrina reconstruction and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast region. It then analyzes the “second disaster” that occurred in New Orleans after Katrina due to racism, classism, elitism, paternalism, and greed. In particular, it describes the “Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans,” which included the Federal Emergency Management Agency's slow response in getting aid to Katrina survivors, insufficient insurance settlement amounts awarded to African Americans, and discrimination in the application of environmental cleanup standards. The chapter also assesses the impact of the demolition of public housing on New Orleans's African American neighborhoods and concludes by offering a number of policy recommendations that could prevent delays and unfairness in government response to disasters in the future.

Agency (philosophy) · Business · Emergency management · Emergency response · Geography · Government (linguistics) · Hurricane katrina · Natural disaster · Paternalism · Payment · Political science · Preparedness · Racism · Settlement (finance) · Sociology · Disaster Management and Resilience · Finance · Law · Public Administration