ABSTRACT
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans leaving death and destruction across the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast counties. The lethargic and inept emergency response that followed exposed institutional flaws, poor planning, and false assumptions that are built into the emergency response and homeland security plans and programs. Questions linger: What went wrong? Can it happen again? Is our government equipped to plan for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from natural and manmade disasters? Can the public trust government response to be fair? Does race matter? Racial disparities exist in disaster response, cleanup, rebuilding, reconstruction, and recovery. Race plays out in natural disaster survivors' ability to rebuild, replace infrastructure, obtain loans, and locate temporary and permanent housing. Generally, low-income and people of color disaster victims spend more time in temporary housing, shelters, trailers, mobile homes, and hotels - and are more vulnerable to permanent displacement. Some 'temporary' homes have not proved to be that temporary. In exploring the geography of vulnerability, this book asks why some communities get left behind economically, spatially, and physically before and after disasters strike.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|95 pages
Challenges of Racialized Place
chapter 2|14 pages
The Overlooked Significance of Place in Law and Policy
chapter 3|14 pages
Transportation Matters
chapter 4|-24 pages
Katrina and the Condition of Black New Orleans
part II|51 pages
Health and Environment Post-Katrina
chapter 5|22 pages
Contaminants In The Air And Soil In New Orleans After The Flood
chapter 7|12 pages
Making The Case For Community-Based Laboratories
part III|79 pages
Equitable Rebuilding And Recovery
chapter 9|19 pages
Rebuilding Lives Post-Katrina
chapter 10|24 pages
The Color of Opportunity And The Future of New Orleans
part IV|18 pages
Policy Choices for Social Change