New Orleans Residents Give Hurricane Recovery a Mixed Review, Report Finds
New Orleans Residents Give Hurricane Recovery a Mixed Review, Report Finds
Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, most residents feel forgotten by the nation and its leaders, yet are still optimistic about the city's future, a new report from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation finds.
Based on a comprehensive survey of nearly 1,300 residents of Orleans Parish — the area with the most residents affected by the storm's aftermath — the study, New Orleans Three Years After the Storm: The Second Kaiser Post-Katrina Survey, 2008 (81 pages, PDF), found that 41 percent of residents who lived through the storm report that their lives are still very or somewhat disrupted — only marginally better than the 46 percent who reported this level of disruption in the foundation's first survey during the Fall of 2006. Similarly, residents' assessment of their overall quality of life was unchanged from 2006, with only 25 percent saying they would rate their lives as very satisfying.
As in 2006, a majority of New Orleans residents (56 percent) said that the rebuilding and recovery process was going in the right direction. At the same time, more than half of those living in the city said they were either dissatisfied (41 percent) or angry (11 percent) with the amount of progress that has been made. In two critical areas, housing (72 percent) and crime (71 percent), the vast majority of city residents saw little or no progress. In other key areas — medical facilities, public schools, jobs, and rebuilding neighborhoods — reviews were mixed, with majorities seeing little or no progress. Only in one area, levee repair, did a majority (60 percent) see progress. In addition, 22 percent of residents said they are thinking about leaving — up from 12 percent in 2006.
Overall, some 60 percent of New Orleans residents said they do not think the rebuilding of New Orleans is a priority for Congress and the president. Nearly two-thirds said they think "most Americans have forgotten about the challenges facing New Orleans" and approximately 75 percent say the federal government has not provided enough money and other support to the city.
Nevertheless, the survey found widespread hope that things will improve. Some 74 percent of residents expressed optimism about the city's future, a level of confidence that has hardly wavered since 2006. "Residents are not satisfied with the pace of the recovery effort," said Kaiser Family Foundation president and CEO Drew Altman, "but they do see it moving in the right direction."
“After Nearly Three Years, New Orleans Residents Give Recovery a Very Mixed Report Card, But See It Moving in the Right Direction and Remain Optimistic for the Future.”
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Press Release
8/10/08.
Primary Subject: Community Improvement/Development
Secondary Subject(s): Hurricane Relief
Location(s): Louisiana, New Orleans
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