Filmmaker Matt Faust of Louisiana State University looks at Louisiana Post-Katrina:

For someone who lives in South Louisiana, “Home” is haunting. We have not recovered sufficiently from the devastation of Katrina, physically or emotionally.

I am extremely happy that this film was made, that it is part of the Tribeca Film Festival, and it won in the short film documentary category. One of the jurors for this category was Rachel Maddow of MSNBC. I am grateful that she cares enough to keep talking about Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and the Gulf Coast. She seems to be the only mainstream TV pundit to keep the story alive outside our area. Thank you, Rachel, for keeping us and our plight in the prime time news.

The feelings I am experiencing seeing the film are “sad” and “surreal” Being reminded of how devastating Katrina was and how much it still affects so many people here in 2009 still brings on the feeling that somehow this is a nightmare, and some morning we will awaken from it. But I know it’s real. It’s not a nightmare. I haven’t figured out why I continue to feel this way even though I have seen, touched and smelled the devastation first-hand, not once, but repeatedly, as I helped my mom get ready to move away from New Orleans after the storm. I will never forget the smell…

I am also extremely angry that one of our senators, David Vitter, is blocking the confirmation of the new head of FEMA under the Obama Administration, and hurricane season is only 21 days from now. WTF is Vitter thinking???

Technorati Tags: Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Katrina Pictures, Hurricane Katrina recovery, Louisiana Post-Katrina, Matt Faust, Tribeca Film Festival Short Film: Home

Rachel Maddow reviews Bush’s response and has an exclusive interview with Jed Horne, city editor of the Times-Picayune at the time of the storm and Pulitzer Price winner:

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From protecting the city of New Orleans from another hurricane as severe as Katrina to addressing poverty in a meaningful way, President Bush has done very little to help New Orleans. As evidenced by Hurricane Ike, FEMA hasn’t gotten better 3 years after Katrina in responding to severe hurricanes. The biggest change? Less aid is available to victims and survivors.

If you haven’t read Jed Horne’s book, you should. It is the real story and a lot of research behind the infrastructure failures that caused New Orleans to be forever changed in a negative way:

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne.

“Breach of Faith” by Jed Horne was one of our local library’s “One Book One Community” selections and a large number of us in the Baton Rouge area have read it. But we aren’t the ones who need to read it the most. We were here. We lived what happened. Those of you outside our experience need to read it and understand just how bad America’s infrastructure is and how poor our attitude is about protecting our major cities. Houston, TX could be the next major city washed away if a 300 year or even a 10,000 year storm hits it directly. Can we as America afford losing entire metropolitan areas that are major manufacturing centers and sea ports? No, we can’t afford that. Infrastructure repair and rebuilding needs to encompass flood protection, better levees and new ideas about protecting electrical, water and sewer systems from hurricanes and flooding, as well as roads, schools and bridges.

Houston also faces the same disastrous consequences of poverty if a major storm hits the city and cripples it for weeks.

What are your ideas for building the flood protection infrastructure and effectively dealing with poverty?

One idea is funding the work that is already underway or ready to start. We could rebuild the Army Corp of Engineers back into a real corp of engineers so they can do their job effectively. The New Orleans levee system isn’t the only Army Corp project. A lot of things were built by the Army Corp in the 1940’s and 1950’s. That infrastructure is crumbling.

How do we deal with poverty? First we have to reinstate the safety nets created during the Great Depression and then work through philanthropic, government, school and volunteer organizations to educate people, especially high school students, so they have options for future employment to rise above poverty. We know from tons of research that poverty isn’t just being broke. It’s a state of mind as well as a state of being.

Please leave your ideas and thoughts in the comments.

Thanks,
Sherri Joubert
Katrina, Rita, and Gustav survivor

Technorati Tags: George W. Bush Legacy, Hurricane Katrina Pictures, infrastructure, infrastructure failure, MSNBC news video, poverty, Rachel Maddow

A lot of people will say “so what?”. In Louisiana, food is not only something to eat. It is an integral part of our history and culture. Losses of such a huge number of recipe collections is one of the hardest things survivors of Katrina face.

Marcelle Bienvenue edited a new book with Judy Walker, Cooking Up A Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. The book lists rich, authentic recipes from New Orleans residents who came together after Hurricane Katrina to preserve their culinary history. This story was featured on NPR on the show All Things Considered on December 10, 2008, hosted by Michelle Norris.

Here is the link to the 6 minute show segment: All Things Considered: Cooking Up A Storm

You can get a copy of this book here:

Technorati Tags: All Things Considered, Cooking Up A Storm, Hurricane Katrina Pictures, Marcelle Bienvenue, Michelle Norris, NPR, Recipes lost in Hurricane Katrina, Times-Picayune