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Re: Hostility over NOLA/longFrom: D. Ashley Hill (dahmd@cfl.rr.com)Tue Sep 6 19:31:28 2005
The tragedy has unmasked the poverty, crime, racial disharmony and provincialism, which are prolific in New Orleans. While I agree that drug withdrawl, anger, anxiety and hoplelessness may account for some of the civil unrest seen after the hurricane passed, I suspect most of the crime is because a lot of unsavory people stayed. These people preyed on the old, infirm and injured. There are several other problems this hurricane has revealed: 1. Lots of people won't leave before a hurricane even though officials and the National Hurricane Center predicted a doomsday scenario. Some can't leave, other's refuse. The able-bodied who refused to leave made it that much harder for rescue workers to help those that could not leave. 2. The relationship between the local, state and federal agencies appears as dysfunctional as prior to 9-11. I don't know if this is because FEMA was absorbed by Homeland Security or if it is because the Mayor and/or Governor were not prepared for a disaster of this degree. That seems a little difficult to believe, since N.O. and surrounding areas are always in the crosshairs for "the big one." To make matters worse, it appears there was no post-disaster command and control, which would have made it possible to help more people in a timely manner. Many police officers were heroes, others abandoned their posts or joined with looters. Bush declared a disaster 2 days before Katrina hit, which should have helped, but apparently did not. It will be interesting to see what the multiple finger-pointing commissions discover. 3. A lot of people in N.O. receive welfare. It will be a huge challenge integrating these citizens into the workforce. From my experience living there, many of the poor are severely overweight (like a lot of our country), have health problems, and have not held steady jobs for years, if ever. My intern year I delivered hundreds of babies, and only about 10% of my patients worked. It's a very provincial city: only about 10% of our patients had ever been out of Louisiana (some of the interns had a contest to see if they could find someone who had traveled outside of the state). It will even be hard for those who have jobs to get back on their feet. The cities that accepted refugees will have a lot of problems providing for them without ongoing federal assistance or massive private donations. It's going to be an ongoing problem for years, compounded by potential local corruption if the feds hand out billions for rebuilding. The poor will be left out of the building boom. I think the city planners should think hard about rebuilding those areas that are the most significantly flooded, unless marked changes in the levee and pumping system occur. Unfortunately, every year there is the chance for N.O. to get hit again. Ashley
-- D. Ashley Hill, MD Associate Director Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Florida Hospital Family Practice Residency and Loch Haven Ob/Gyn Group Orlando, Florida
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