Hurricane Katrina Case Study

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Question #1 In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina breached the flood protection systems in New Orleans. This caused over four fifths of metropolitan New Orleans to be flooded. (Fausset) The levees that failed showed that the urban planning of the city was neglectful and dysfunctional, even before the hurricane hit. The destruction of Hurricane Katrina is illustrated by Jon Hughes’ photo gallery, and his photos further corroborate the fact that the level of devastation caused by the hurricane was a result of improper planning. The city’s planning that went into the levees to protect the city was a failure, and the same failure is also reflected in the aftermath and cleanup after the hurricane. The photos that were taken by

Since they were already to blame for the levee failures, frustration over the mishandling of the city continued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Misunderstandings about the demographics and race in the Lower Ninth Ward caused the situation to be handled improperly. For example, the article states that home ownership was higher in the area compared to the rest of the city. The press secretary to the mayor of the city later incorrectly tells Rivlin that a “lack of home ownership in the community” played a role in the residents’ suffering. Thus, the neighborhood was largely ignored by the New Orleans government, as expressed by a local, Ronald Lewis. “We weren’t even given the credit of being working-class people.” The local city government failed the Lower Ninth Ward, and the Louisiana state government would go on to do so as well. Governor of Kathleen Blanco had good intentions in setting up a recovery effort called Road Home. However, the $10 billion that went into the program largely favored the middle class over the working class, as well as white communities over black ones. (Rivlin) This common prejudice shared by city and state officials was part of the inappropriate urban planning that led to the state of the Lower Ninth Ward. Yet another flaw of Road Home was that its payouts to residents were determined by the value of the home, not the cost of damage. Thus, homes in more affluent areas received more money than low income areas, despite the damage from the hurricane being the same, or worse, in the low income neighborhoods. This was obviously discrimination, and the predominately African American homeowners in the Lower Ninth Ward sued the federal government in the state to get more funding. However, by the time the case was settled, the only money that remained was $500 million of the original $10 billion. The government