Rebuilding

Rebuilding

Utilizing Information in College Writing - COM/112

Rebuilding

The total cost in damage from hurricanes from the 1950’s to 2005 is estimated at

84.9 billion dollars. Louisiana 21.8 billion, Florida 30.3 billion, North Carolina 5.6

billion, Mississippi 14.2 billion, Texas 7.7 billion, Alabama 4.0 billion. Six other states

have lesser damage but were still in the high millions. The total loss of life is in the

thousands. These estimates are for all states around The Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean

coastal areas. Are we protecting ourselves and families by rebuilding these devastated

areas?

The following chart shows the past and present events of storms that have past

over the Louisiana in the last fifty years. Not much has happened over the course of many

of those years, but it has increased in the last ten. This is one indication that the storms

are increasing overtime and will cause more and more devastation. As you can see the

storms have caused increasing amounts of death as well as becoming financially

disturbing. (NCDC, 2005)

Hurricanes and tropical storm damage estimates in Louisiana

{Move your mouse over the smaller bars and will show the amounts spent in damages.}

1995: $200K

1997: $5.0M

1998: $61.6M

2002: $258.3M

2003: $34.0M

2004: $11.9M

2005: $75B (and still rising)

The folloeing statistics have been found from the WWL-TV News website that

will give you a better idea of extent of devastations and costs as of February 25th, 2006:

POPULATION: An estimated 189,000 New Orleans residents have returned, compared with around 500,000 pre-Katrina.

DEATHS: 1,080 in Louisiana.

MISSING: Nearly 2,000 listed as missing by the Find Family National Call Center.

DESTROYED HOUSES: More than 215,000. Total housing units lost, including apartments, is 1,847,181.

PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE LOSSES: $75 to $100 billion.

DEBRIS: Katrina created 60.3 million cubic yards; 32.1 million cubic yards had been removed as of February.

BUSINESSES: Of 81,000 impacted businesses, 42,000 have fully reopened; 18,700 were destroyed.

TAX REVENUE: $549 million lost (including gambling, sales and income taxes.)

SCHOOLS: More than 835 schools damaged statewide. Only 20 out of 128 public schools have reopened in New Orleans; 83,821 of 244,608 college students statewide were displaced. Of the displaced college students, only 16,480 have re-enrolled in state.

JOBS: More than 220,000 jobs lost.

WETLANDS: More than 100 square miles of wetland destroyed by storm surge.

HOSPITALS: Katrina closed eight of 16 hospitals in the New Orleans' area, reducing the number of hospital beds from 4,083 to 1,760.

ELECTRICITY: A total of 189,000 households and businesses received electricity from Entergy New Orleans pre-Katrina, compared with between 65,000 to 70,000 today.

GAS: A total of 145,000 customers in New Orleans received natural gas service from Entergy New Orleans before Katrina. Between 40,000 to 45,000 are using the service today.

ESTIMATED DAMAGE TO POWER INFRASTRUCTURE: $275 million in infrastructure repairs in New Orleans.

Think about this scenario for a moment. You have a house in Miami, Florida

along the coat line and have lived in it with your new family for roughly three years.

Warnings are being given that a category three hurricane is approaching and you and

your family are being evacuated. Two weeks later you return to your loved home and find

that it has been flattened by a category five hurricane instead of a category three that was

previously predicted. The insurance company has your house rebuilt in one and a half

years you live in that home again. In the meantime you and your family have to live with

family until it’s completed. Scientists have discovered knowledge of predicting the future

hurricanes and there will in fact be one in two years that will destroy your house once

again. Do you really want to put your family through this again? We are at a very

sensitive stage in our present and future lives. We truly need to consider what we are

doing to the future of the people by allowing the continuance in rebuilding the

communities around the coastal areas.

Al Gore in �The Time to Act Is Now’ (2005) has encountered scientists who say

that the global warming may not affect the frequency of hurricanes, but it makes the

average hurricane stronger, magnifying its destructive powers. (Rolling Stone, p72-73)

As everyone has noticed this past year alone we have encountered more aggressive