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September 01, 2005
Houston takes in New Orleans' weary
As the effects of the worst natural disaster of our time continued to become more apparent with each passing hour, Houston opened its arms to tens of thousands of New Orleans citizens who lost virtually everything but their lives.
Houston's venerable Astrodome -- the subject of a local debate over what to do with aging landmark -- was prepared yesterday to receive as many as 25,000 evacuees from New Orleans, many of whom have spent the past five days inside the deteriorating Louisiana Superdome in downtown New Orleans. The evacuees are expected to begin heading for Houston this morning in a caravan of almost 500 buses provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As if to underscore the desperation of the situation, two of the three first buses to reach the Astrodome from New Orleans early this morning were "renegade" buses that did not contain evacuees from the Superdome. The Astrodome went ahead and took in the evacuees from all the buses, anyway. This earlier post provides links to blogs that provide up-to-the minute updates on the situation in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Unfortunately, the chaos in New Orleans has delayed the evacuation of the Superdome on Thursday morning. The Associated Press is reporting the following as of 7:15 a.m.:
The evacuation of the Superdome was suspended Thursday after shots were fired at a military helicopter, an ambulance official overseeing the operation said. No immediate injuries were reported."We have suspended operations until they gain control of the Superdome," said Richard Zeuschlag, head of Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the Superdome.
He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control.
"That's not enough," Zeuschlag. "We need a thousand."
In the meantime, the Astrodome continues to be equipped with 30,000 cots and blankets and outfitted with a medical clinic and food service dispensing three meals a day. The Red Cross and City officials announced that they expect to provide temporary shelter for at least a month at the Astrodome, then begin moving Louisiana residents to shelters closer to their homes. Meanwhile, Houston Mayor Bill White and County Judge Robert Eckels huddled with representatives of Houston area apartment owners to determine how many of Houston's currently large surplus of vacant apartment units could be mobolized to house some of the evacuees. On Wednesday evening, Mayor White did an excellent job representing Houston on CNN, and Judge Eckels on Fox News also conveyed a sense of competent and no-nonsense leadership in the wake of the daunting logistics of preparing for the influx of evacuees.
Elsewhere, evacuees streamed into the dozen local Red Cross shelters that have been set up to receive evacuees from the Gulf Coast disaster area. You can donate through Amazon to the Gulf Coast relief effort through this link, which has also been added to the right column of this blog. Also, Glenn Reynolds has compiled this handy list of direct links to various charities participating in the relief effort. Finally, Kevin Whited over at blogHouston.net provides this list of links to local Houston charities assisting in the relief effort.
In another development, Houston will also open its schools to all displaced Louisiana children. Mayor White stated that "we need to do some planning and thinking on what we do with people out of their houses for a very extended period of time. We have a plan for what we will do for 14 weeks. After that it is unclear." Other Texas cities are also pitching in on the relief effort. The first Hurricane Katrina refugees arrived Wednesday afternoon at the newly opened Reunion Arena in Dallas, and the Red Cross in Dallas had opened two smaller shelters to house about 400 people.
As all of this was going on locally, national and international markets continue to grapple with the potential long-term economic effects of this natural disaster. Although devastating hurricanes such as Andrew in 1992 and the 1994 Los Angeles Northridge earthquake have had a temporary impact on the huge U.S. economy, Katrina could be different. The large scale destruction of several Gulf Coast cities -- including one of almost a half million residents -- is not something that the United States has had to face since the early part of the 20th century. This NY Times schematic provides an excellent guide to the destruction in the New Orleans area.
On a related note, this Wall Street Journal ($) op-ed by urban expert Joel Kotkin points out that the character of New Orleans had changed even before Hurricane Katrina, and that the damage from the storm may be the impetus for either good or bad with regard to the city's future:
In 1920, New Orleans' population was nearly three times that of Houston and nine times Miami's. It was the primary southern destination for European and Caribbean immigrants. Now, both the Houston and Miami areas -- despite their own ample experience with disasters of the natural as well as the manmade variety -- have long ago surpassed New Orleans, with populations more than three times larger. During the '90s, the Miami and Houston areas grew almost six times faster than greater New Orleans, and flourished as major destinations for immigrants, particularly from Latin America.These newcomers have helped transform Miami and Houston into primary centers for trade, investment and services, from finance and accounting to medical care, for the entire Caribbean basin. They have started businesses, staffed factories, and become players in civic life. Houston has taken over completely as the dominant center for the energy industry, once a key high-wage employer in the New Orleans region.
Instead of serving as a major commercial and entrepreneurial center, New Orleans' dominant industry lies not in creating its future but selling its past, much of which now sits underwater. Tourism defines contemporary New Orleans' economy more than its still-large port, or its remaining industry, or its energy production. Although there is nothing wrong, per se, in being a 镉0rRH W_3 WvW㬐W㬐W㰐W & J & O A( 0 : : $ D A T A