Hurricane Katrina One-Year Later

Bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people.
-George Bush, Sept. 2005


From the GULF COAST RECONSTRUCTION WATCH "One Year After Katrina" report:


Health
Number of hospitals in Orleans Parish before hurricanes Katrina and Rita: 22

Number operating as of August 2006: 11

Number of years the Charity Hospital System provided health care for the disadvantaged and uninsured: 270

Number of years New Orleans residents will have to wait for the opening of a 1.2 billion dollar medical complex meant to replace Charity Hospital: 5

One out of nine before Katrina, number of rural clinics lost by Coastal Family Health Care, a non-profit serving the uninsured in Mississippi: 4

In September (2005), number of days that federal officials said it would take to help Costal rebuild three of their clinics: 12-18

As of May (2006), number that had been rebuilt: 0


Housing
Number of storm-affected households approved for housing assistance: 946,597

Number of mobile homes ordered for the Gulf Coast: 7,737

Number of smaller travel trailers: 105,927

Number of Mississippi households living in FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes as of July 19, 2006: 37,505

Percent of those living in more spacious mobile homes: 12.5

Number of Louisiana households living in FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes as of July 19, 2006: 75,907

Percent of those living in more spacious mobile homes: 4.6

Minimum percent of New Orleans public housing that is still closed: 80

Number of homes the Army Corps of Engineers had demolished in Louisiana since Katrina: 1,105

Minimum number of New Orleans public housing units scheduled for demolition: 5,00

Months after Katrina that federal money for housing reconstruction was approved: 10

Total federal fund dispersed so far to rebuild homes: $0


Education
Number of Louisiana students in private and public schools displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: 247,000

Number of Mississippi students displaced: 125,000

Number of schools damaged in both states: 715

Number of New Orleans public schools before Katrina: 117

Number of New Orleans public schools scheduled to open for 2206-2207 school year: 57

Amount given to Louisiana by U.S. Dept. of Education for charter schools since Katrina: $44.8 million (23.6 million GBP)

Amount given for traditional public schools damaged by the storm: $0


Economy
Number of small businesses that were operating in the 77 counties worst hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: 145,000

Percent of New Orleans small businesses destroyed by Katrina: 60

Out of 28,540 disaster loan applications submitted to the Small Business Administration (SBA) from the Gulf Coast, number processed by December 2005: 10

By May 2006, number of loans the SBA had approved for Louisiana: 11,400

Number of businesses that had actually received checks: 4,200


Contract Fraud
Minimum value of contracts federal agencies have awarded to private companies for works related to Katrina and Rita: $9.7 billion (5.1 billion GBP)

Percent of those contracts awarded with little or no competition: 80

Amount the Federal Supply Services paid Lamson and Goodnow Manufacturing Co. for each of three steak knives, described as "scimitars": $92.28 (23.60 GBP)

Minimum amount the department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement paid for "Armed Guard Services Related to Hurricane Katrina Efforts": $33,332,250 (17,550,433.09 GBP)

Amount Bechtel overbilled because of a "computation error" in which preventive and corrective maintenance for trailers was billed twice: $48 million (25.3 million GBP)

Amount of the federal contract, the bulk of which was awarded to the Shaw Group, whose lobbyist is former FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, for tarping roofs- despite charging three times more than Alabama competitor Ystueta: $330 million (173.75 million GBP)

Amount awarded to West Viginia pastor Gary Heldreth to set up a base camp for first responders in flooded St. Bernard Parish, which he used instead to purchase cars and real estate and to transfer cash to family members: $5.2 million (2.7 million GBP)

Amount that AshBritt, with help from the lobbying firm founded by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, received from the Army Corps of Engineers for debris removal in Mississippi: $580 million (305.4 million GBP)

Minimum amount AshBritt has been sued for nonpayment by several Mississippi companies across the hurricane reconstruction zone: $9.5 million (5 million GBP)


It's a time to remember that people suffered, and it's a time to recommit ourselves to helping them. But I also want people to remember that a one-year anniversary is just that, because it's going to require a long time to help these people rebuild.
-George Bush Aug. 2006