On August 29, 2005, a vicious Category 3
hurricane touched down in New Orleans,
Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina was one of
the largest disasters in US history, leaving in
its wake death, destruction, and chaos. Over
1800 people were killed in the storm and
its aftermath, and more than 400,000 were
displaced from their homes.
An Unnecessary Tragedy
The sheer power of Katrina meant that much
of the destruction was unavoidable. The
storm tore apart cities and towns all along
the coastline of the southern United States.
However, it was the city of New Orleans
which was the hardest hit. Development of
the city has caused it to sink as sea levels have
risen, putting much of it below sea level. Of
the 1800 people who lost their lives in the
storm, 1577 of them were from New Orleans.
The great tragedy in New Orleans was not the
destruction that the storm brought, but the
fact that a large part of the destruction and
loss of life could have been avoided. Scientists
had been warning for years that a hurricane
like Katrina would hit soon. The Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
had listed a major hurricane striking New
Orleans as one of the top three most likely
disasters to occur in the US.
Yet nothing was done to put in place an
emergency action plan, nor to repair the city's
aging levees. In fact, the Bush administration
cut the funding for the US Army Corps of
Engineers, who were to repair the levees, by
44% between 2001 and 2005. As a result, the
city's levees crumbled under the power of the
storm, resulting in the flooding of 80% of the
city.
No Plan in Place
As the storm drew closer, it became clear that
neither city, state, nor federal authorities had
any kind of comprehensive plan to evacuate
people from the area. At the eleventh hour, a
mandatory evacuation order was given for the
city of New Orleans, but thousands remained
in their homes. The media and government
organizations tended to portray those who
didn't evacuate as ignorant or stubborn, but
many simply had no way to leave the city.
Patients in hospitals and nursing homes
were stranded without any plan in place
to move them. No provisions were made to
ensure those with disabilities were evacuated.
Many people did not have a car or could not
afford a bus ticket out of the city. And many
more decided to stay because they would be
homeless if they left the city, without family to
stay with or funds to pay for a hotel. The city's
Lower 10stadium with inadequate supplies,
no sanitation facilities, and no plan in place
to move them.
On the streets, people began to break into
stores, taking food, water, medical supplies,
baby formula – anything to survive. The
response of the US government was not to
send in aid, but to label these desperate people
as 'looters' and send in the military – 47,000
troops in all. But the army was not there to
save people. Louisiana Governor Kathleen
Blanco warned those trying to survive in the
city that, "[The soldiers] have M16s and are
locked and loaded. These troops know how to
shoot to kill and I expect they will.”
Abandoned by the Government
The response to the disaster in the weeks and
months following did not improve much.
Some of those who lost their homes were put
up in trailers or hotels by FEMA. For some,
this was enough time to get back on their
feet, find work, and rebuild or find a new
home. But for many – especially the poorest
residents – there was no permanent solution,
and no help offered to find one. Many of the
city's poorer residents had no home insurance.
Others had been denied flood coverage. In
addition, the government began to tear down
public housing projects after Katrina – even
ones which had not been damaged. Some new
mixed-income housing projects were built,
but they were more expensive and required
stringent criminal record checks which kept
many out of areas they had called home their
entire lives.
Not surprisingly, New Orleans' homeless
population has risen by 70% since Katrina,
according to UNITY charity. In terms of
heer numbers, the city has one of the highest
homeless populations in the country, despite
having a population of just 380,000.
Remaking New Orleans
In the years since Katrina, opportunistic
developers and politicians have used the
destruction of the city to rebuild the city
according to their own interests, rather than
the interest of residents. Public schools have
largely been replaced with charter schools,
many of them run by private management
companies. Just three weeks after Katrina
hit, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco
announced that Charity Hospital would be
closed. Since 1736, Charity Hospital had
served the city's poor – and in the present day,
those without medical insurance. The closure
of the hospital left hundreds of thousands
without access to medical care.
During and after Katrina, widespread
accusations of racism were directed at all
levels of government from citizens as well as
humanitarian and activist organizations. The
overwhelming majority - 98% - of residents
of the Lower Ninth Ward were black. Many
believed that the government would have
responded faster if the worst affected areas had
been wealthier and whiter. Some also believed
the lack of action was intended to force the
poor and black people to leave the city.
Whether or not the lack of response to
Katrina was planned in this way, forcing poor
and black people out of the city was indeed
the end result. More than 100,000 black
residents of New Orleans left after the storm
and never returned. Moreover,
black residents of the city today
are more likely to be living in
poverty than before Katrina,
according to a recent American
Community Survey. The city
tried to 'clean up' by restructuring
social housing and increasing
services and businesses that
would attract wealthier residents.
But these improvements to the
city's image have done nothing
to decrease poverty in the city
- only to marginalize the poor
even more, pushing many onto
the streets and into abandoned
buildings left in Katrina's wake.
Perhaps most telling is the fact that while
most of the city has been rebuilt, the Lower
Ninth Ward remains a near ghost town. It is
not just the risk of flood which has prevented
people from rebuilding, though. Many people
could not afford to rebuild their homes, and
there has been little effort from government
to aid them.
What Could Have
Been Done Instead?
- The Cuban
Revolutionary
Example
For all the great
accomplishments of
humanity, we still
remain vulnerable
to the great power
of Mother Nature.
Hurricanes cause
massive destruction
around the globe
each year. But while
we may not be able
to save homes or
infrastructure from their ferocity, we can do
much, much more to prevent the greatest
tragedy: the loss of human life.
Just one month before Katrina made landfall
in the US, Hurricane Dennis struck Cuba.
The massive Category 4 storm caused around
$2 billion in damage to the island; however,
just ten people lost their lives. In fact, between
1996 and 2002, only 16 people were killed
in the six hurricanes which struck the island
nation. This is not simply a matter of luck; it is
a matter of preparedness from a revolutionary
government which makes people the number
one priority. During Hurricane Dennis,
Cuba successfully evacuated 1.5 million
people - more than a tenth of the country's
population - from the areas in greatest danger.
The country has a meticulous evacuation
plan which is practiced in schools and
communicated to all citizens. Transportation
is arranged out of areas which are in danger;
special accommodations are made for the sick
and the elderly. Each residential block has a
person designated to take a census to make
sure no one is left behind. Once evacuated,
Cubans go to pre-arranged shelters to wait for
the storm to pass.
Cuba has been commended internationally
for the exemplary way in which it deals with
hurricanes. So how does a country with far
fewer resources than the US manage this? It
is not just a matter of exemplary organization
but of priorities as well. In fact, Cuba's ability
to respond to disasters such as hurricanes
begins long before they strike. On every level,
Cuban society is organized to encourage
active participation from its citizens. Every
community across the country has an
organization to respond to the needs of that
particular neighbourhood. Representatives
of all levels of government live and work in
the communities they represent and as such
are able to truly understand the needs of the
people. Cubans are familiar with and take
pride in this level of participation in their
communities. They know that when disaster
strikes, they can trust their government to
do its utmost to protect their lives. They also
understand that they have a responsibility
to ensure that they and others in their
community - especially the most vulnerable -
get to safety.
This level of organization and human response
is possible because Cuba is a socialist country.
As such, both people and government are
organized to work collectively and put the
needs of people first. Compare this to disaster
response programs in the US or Canada, for
example. Here, disaster response is largely
viewed as an individual effort. You may know,
for example, that you should evacuate in case
of a disaster, but where would you go? If you
were sick, injured, or otherwise unable to get
yourself to safety, does the government have
a plan in place to ensure you are removed
from harm's way? In capitalist countries,
disaster response is not a community effort;
it is survival of the fittest - or the richest. As
Katrina tragically demonstrated, those who
have the financial means to evacuate will be able to save themselves, while the poorest will perish.
Disaster Capitalism
Hurricane Katrina was an act of nature, but the terrible loss of life and subsequent worsening
of living conditions for hundreds of thousands was an act of capitalism. The tragic loss of life in
New Orleans was not a result simply of poor management or corruption on the part of FEMA or
other government agencies. Ignoring climate change which contributed to the disaster, cutting
funding for levees that would protect the city, and failing to evacuate the most vulnerable were
all actions of a government and an economic system which made funding wars and giving tax
breaks to big corporations the priority above protecting human lives. The responsibility for this
terrible tragedy lies squarely on the shoulders of an economic system which puts the interests of
the capitalist class before the interests of the vast majority of people.
As our climate continues to change, we will see more frequent and more extreme storms and
weather systems - and with it, unfortunately, more loss of life. It is poor, working, and marginalized
people who will bear the brunt of these disasters. If the capitalist economic system cannot meet
even our most basic need for survival, perhaps it is time to give the Cuban way a chance.
Back to Article Listing
