Rebuilding After Katrina

O n December 10, International Human Rights Day, survivors of Hurricane Katrina together with hundreds of supporters took buses from Jackson, Mississippi and nearby states to a rally in New Orleans. A two-mile long march began at Congo Square, with a jazz music march to City Hall to present a Declaration of the People to Mayor Nagin, declaring, “New Orleans hurricane survivors want to return to their homes.” 

The Hurricane Katrina assembly and rally was organized by the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund & Oversight Coalition (PHRF), a New Orleans and Gulf South umbrella coalition. Their message is “From outrage to action, the people must decide.” 

Three months after the hurricane many poor black, Asian, indigenous American, and white survivors are still out of jobs, building contracts, and other aspects of the city’s rebuilding. Some estimate that over 100,000 immigrants— many of them undocumented—have been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina in the southern states. Before the hurricane, they worked at sweatshop jobs across the city; after the flooding, they fled the city with no chance of receiving any federal assistance because of their immigration status. Several were arrested by immigration officials for deportation because they asked for government assistance. Though some of them were re-hired by private contractors to help rebuild the city, in several cases, they were cheated of their pay after the work was done.

With FEMA cutting Katrina survivors’ hotel vouchers in early January 2006, activist collectives like Common Ground and Community Labor United have built support centers to offer food and legal aid to returning hurricane survivors and the ACLU of Louisiana and Mississippi is considering complaints of constitutional violations from hurricane victims. With the need for long-term humanitarian operations in the Gulf region, the PHRF decided to call an emergency conference to discuss how to build a long-term nationally coordinated effort to support the victims. The one-day December 9 assembly in Jackson, Mississippi (210 miles north of New Orleans) attracted 400 activists from across the country—including approximately 150 hurricane survivors—to strategize how displaced people could rebuild their communities and how supporters  could help. 

Throughout the assembly and rally, everyone agreed that the key issue for post-Katrina recovery was helping survivors find permanent housing. After the assembly, the survivors presented the following list of demands to New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, and the U.S. government: 

• Local, state and federal governments must make conditions possible for our immediate return. 
• The government must provide funds for all families to be reunited, and the databases of FEMA, the Red Cross, and any organizations tracking our people must be made public. 
• There must be open, public accountability for and oversight of the over $50 billion FEMA funds and the money raised by other organizations, foundations, and funds in our name. 
• Survivors must have representation on all boards that are making decisions about relief and reconstruction. Those most affected by Hurricane Katrina must be present in every stage of the planning process. 
• No commercial Mardi Gras will take place until the suffering of the people is lifted. 

In addition, the survivors and activists agreed to work on the following areas: 

• Nationwide local support groups to help survivors with long-term needs.  
• Counseling services for youth survivors. 
• A community tribunal to hold the government accountable for the disaster. 

The conference and the rally generated positive energy for the activists and hope for the survivors. The coalition is working to develop follow-up strategies and implement a vision for long-term national coalition building.