Hurricane evacuees from Louisiana told federal and state officials at forums across the southern US on Saturday that what they want most when their state is rebuilt are affordable housing and stronger levees.
Some evacuees at the "Louisiana Speaks" forums also worried that officials have no real plans to restore certain areas, such as impoverished parts of New Orleans.
"This [forum] is a good idea," Tereece Johnson, 40, said during the event held in Atlanta. "But is it going to accomplish something? I can't say."
Most of the 30 forums, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Recovery Authority, were held in Louisiana. Others were held in cities where tens of thousands of Louisiana residents fled, including Atlanta and Houston.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, destroying about 217,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and causing US$25 billion in insured losses. The state expects roughly US$10 billion in federal funding for rebuilding, and Saturday's forums were part of a planning process in figuring out how to best use that money, state officials said.
Input from Saturday's meetings is to be incorporated in a long-term regional plan for rebuilding South Louisiana.
But some were not yet ready to talk about the future.
"You're talking about rebuilding?" shrieked Denise Herbert, 47, momentarily silencing about 100 people gathered at a forum in Atlanta.
"I want somebody to tell me where my mother is now!" said Herbert, referring to 82-year-old Ethel Anna Herbert, who went missing more than five months ago.
At the Atlanta forum, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco talked to Herbert and other evacuees, who worried about immediate needs like rental assistance and help with mental anguish.
"We have to do a combination of all of that. We have to take care of the immediate needs now and we have to work for the future. And that has to be done simultaneously."
More than 1,300 Katrina-related deaths have been reported across five states, with 1,080 of those from Louisiana. As Herbert noted, more than 3,000 people are still officially unaccounted for.
Many evacuees said the availability of affordable housing will make or break their decision to return to New Orleans.
"I'd like to go back -- if I can get suitable housing," said Joseph Howard, 48, a hospital and housekeeping worker.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS