katrina

One year ago, the people of New Orleans were hit by a devastating storm, forced to flee by failing levees, and abandoned, before the shocked eyes of the world, by a government unable or unwilling to provide effective relief. more »

A lot of people have been asking us about the above, and we’ve been hesitant to weigh in. The
first task in New Orleans and other devastated areas is to get the water out and the electricity on,
bury the dead, and take care of the living. That’s not done yet, and it seems sort of obscene to
speculate on reconstruction tasks before it is. I’m also not an expert on the physical condition of
the region. I don’t know, for example, how much of the flooded housing stock can be preserved
from mold and rot, or what effort has been made to get salvageable structures cleaned out before
decay takes them. I assume next to none in the poorer neighborhoods, but don’t even know that
for certain. more »