DISGRASIAN™

Hurricane Kashameful

Yesterday marked the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, our nation’s biggest domestic disgrace. The Washington Post reported these alarming statistics about the current state of affairs in the Big Not-So-Easy:

Still, only two-thirds of the pre-Katrina population of New Orleans has returned to the city, and storm damage remains visible. Only 40 percent of the city’s public school students have returned, although sales tax receipts have climbed to 84 percent of pre-storm levels, according to a new Brookings Institution report.

…The Louisiana-run Road Home program, which provides rebuilding grants to homeowners who had inadequate storm insurance, has sent checks to 44,000 hurricane victims, despite having received more than 184,000 applications and having billions of dollars in the bank.

…More than 1,600 people died in the storm along the Gulf Coast and 1.5 million people were scattered. Almost as much as the war in Iraq…

Here are photos I took 9 months after Katrina, in and around the Ninth Ward:

FEMA trailers for miles and miles

A typical street

An abandoned school

From all reports, the city is not that much better off today. New Orleans still needs your tourism, your money, and your help. Click here to view a list of disaster relief organizations, and help rebuild NOLA.

Filed under: George Bush is a Dick, Hurricane Katrina, Kanye Was Right, Louasiana, New Orleans, Shame, This is Bullshit