Poverty and Race Research Action Council

Housing Rights in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

• Letter to Congress from civil rights organizations (September 23, 2005) See full text.
• The Hurricane and the Right to Housing (September 13, 2005) See full text.
• Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for HUD from the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake (September 12, 2005) See full text.

Hurricane Katrina: Analysis of the Impact on the Insurance Industry

Hurricane Katrina: Analysis of the Impact on the Insurance Industry
Source: Towers Perrin/Tillinghast

"The Tillinghast and Reinsurance businesses of Towers Perrin have prepared this white paper as our contribution to the discussion of Hurricane Katrina’s financial impact on insurers and further implications for the insurance industry. Our current estimate of direct industry loss from Katrina is $40 to $55 billion. Our analysis includes line-of-business loss estimates; how losses will be split among insurers, reinsurers and capital markets; a look at hurricane frequency and severity; risk management implications; and some public policy issues."

News Roundup

Farrakhan wants govt sued over hurricane response
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan accused the federal government of "criminal neglect" for its slow response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during a rally on Saturday marking the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March."

New Orleans mayor says city finances still bleak
"NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said on Saturday the city's financial condition remains bleak and that he is still looking for funds that will prevent further layoffs of municipal workers."

In Poor Section of New Orleans, Little to Salvage
Reuters | The Boston Globe
"Residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, a poor, mainly black neighborhood that was submerged for weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, returned home for the first time yesterday, but found little to salvage."

Gulf Rebuilding Plans: Mix and Match
Editors | The Christian Science Monitor
"Given the enormity of the job to be done, the Gulf area is big enough and the needs great enough to accommodate both Republican and Democratic approaches - with limits."

Some Federal Rules Waived After Katrina
Andrea Stone | USA Today
"President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have used emergency powers to waive some federal regulations and have proposed other changes in what they say is an effort to cut red tape and speed relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Democrats and watchdog groups complain that some waivers are attempts to roll back federal protections and advance the Republican political agenda. A look at some of the actions: "

Small, Minority Firms to Get More Katrina Work
The Associated Press | Chicago Sun-Times
"The Bush administration said Tuesday it would boost the number of contracts given to small and minority-owned businesses for Hurricane Katrina cleanup work, calling the amount now awarded too low."

FEMA to Rebuild Four Large Contracts
Bill Walsh | The Times-Picayune
"Under fire for awarding large noncompetitive hurricane recovery contracts that included few local or minority-owned businesses, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday it will rebid four large jobs."

As New Orleans Rebuilds, Will Poor Be Cut Out?
The Associated Press | Houston Chronicle
"Clarence Rodriguez has ripped up the water-buckled floor tiles and is hard at work scraping mold off the walls of his home in the mostly black and impoverished 9th Ward. But as for his neighbors, many have gathered up their belongings and left, with no intention of returning."

Katrina Housing Offer Goes Bad
Maria Cramer | The Boston Globe
"...barely one month later, the Meehan-Hoos are living at a Holiday Inn Express and said they have filed a ''stay away" order against King. They said he used their situation to get media attention and erroneously told the media that FEMA would not help them because they are a same-sex couple."

Crime, safety trends include out-of-state residents

Crime, safety trends include out-of-state residents
By By Robin Fitzgerald
"GULFPORT, Miss. - Public safety trends post-Katrina show an increase in traffic violations, illegal drugs and property crimes. And, according to authorities, crimes by out-of-state residents who are here to help with hurricane recovery."

Hospital deaths to be probed by Foti

Hospital deaths to be probed by Foti
By By John Pope
"Based on allegations that Memorial Medical Center doctors considered putting frail patients to death in the first days after Hurricane Katrina, state Attorney General Charles Foti has ordered an investigation of all hospital and nursing home deaths after the storm."

Center for American Progress: Budgeting for Katrina and Beyond

Hurricane Katrina: Resource Guide

Budgeting for Katrina and Beyond
by Robert Gordon, John Irons and Jennifer Palmieri
"Hurricane Katrina and the resulting devastation in the Gulf Coast have reignited the debate over national priorities in the federal budget."

Katrina and Deficits by Gene Sperling

Progressive Vision for Reconstruction of the Gulf Coast
By Robert Gordon, Jennifer Palmieri, Bracken Hendricks, Ana Unruh Cohen & Karen Davenport

Heritage on Katrina

Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has dedicated this page to articles and research on its recommendations for New Orleans.

Blog Roundup

Public Policy and Katrina
by Congressman John Conyers | The Daily Kos

"The devastation along the Gulf Coast caused by Katrina and the ripple effects throughout the entire nation are tragic beyond description. What we are witnessing in Louisiana and Mississippi is the truism that when disaster strikes, the gap between rich and poor becomes a chasm.

In today's lagging economy, far too many hardworking Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, just barely getting by. In that tenuous financial condition, many families are only one tragedy away from being devastated by debt. Many of the families who have now lost their homes, livelihoods, and personal possessions will soon be contacted by credit collection agencies demanding the next minimum payment on a credit card.

Unfortunately, the bankruptcy bill recently passed by Congress makes matters far worse for these families. Before the new bankruptcy law was passed, the law recognized that almost all -- if not all -- of these families are hopelessly in debt and that no useful purpose is served by forcing them to remain at the mercy of the credit card companies."

A Million Here, A Million There
Mark Schmitt | The Decembrist
"In a great example of what the distributed, decentralized processing power of the internet is good for, a number of bloggers have teamed up to take President Bush at his word and demonstrate that the costs of Gulf Coast reconstruction can be paid for by cutting "pork" from the federal budget. "Porkbusters," created by Glenn Reynolds and N.Z. Bear of Truth Laid Bear, is an admirable effort, much along the lines of Josh's efforts on the DeLay Rule, Social Security, and now the Gulf Coast Wage Cut."

National News

New Orleans Forms a Panel on Renewal
By Gary Rivlin | New York Times

HUD chief foresees a 'whiter' Big Easy
By Brian DeBose | THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Progressive Magazines

Now Let’s Rescue America: Nine Key Steps For The Left
by Van Jones | Yes! Magazine

Let the People Rebuild New Orleans
Naomi Klein | The Nation

'One Nation, Fragmented'
By Eyal Press | The Nation

Visionaries Wanted
By Nicholas von Hoffman | The Nation

Atlantic Monthly 1978:
New Orleans: I Have Seen the Future, and It's Houston
by James K. Glassman | Atlantic Monthly

The Mysteries of New Orleans
Commentary: Twenty-five Questions about the Murder of the Big Easy
By Mike Davis and Anthony Fontenot | Mother Jones