With very little study or debate, Congress and President George W. Bush are inclined to rebuild New Orleans more or less as it was and where it was.
The Crescent City’s special place in American hearts justifies the decision to preserve and renew its special qualities. But federal assistance should be aimed primarily at helping rebuild the lives of people who were devastated by Hurricane Katrina – not necessarily re-creating the low-lying neighborhoods inundated by the storm and vulnerable to the next one.
By all means, the government should help restore normal life in such historic areas as the French Quarter, a tourist magnet on relatively high ground that escaped the most serious effects of the storm. But residents and businesses in lower-lying districts may want to relocate on higher ground. Unfortunately, many may be denied that right if the government is not flexible in distributing hurricane relief.
Property claim experts, still stunned by the scale of wreckage, say at least $40 billion of the damage caused by Katrina will be covered by insurance – a figure that would easily make it history’s costliest hurricane. But total damage is estimated at $125 billion or more. Most victims lacked flood coverage, which generally must be purchased from the federal government and is capped at $250,000. Insurance claims from the federal program as well as the wind damage that will be covered by many private insurers, can be used however the victims desire. If they want to rebuild on their old lot in New Orleans, they can. If they’d rather relocate in Denver or retire to Sun City, that’s their right.
In contrast, victims without insurance are forced to rely on Small Business Administration loans to repair their homes and businesses. In a triumph of bureaucratic inertia over common sense, only victims who are forced to relocate by state or local officials are eligible to use those loans to start fresh in a new location. That policy should be reversed.
There is certainly no lack of ideas about how to rebuild New Orleans. Some planners want to build houses on stilts, while others back a system of levees that would crisscross the city. Others support a $2.5 billion sea wall south of New Orleans,
Some visionaries want to “upfill” the 80 percent of the city that lies below sea level by bulldozing the destroyed housing and filling in with material dredged from the Gulf of Mexico. But other experts note the region has already sunk as much as 10 feet over the last few centuries. Adding millions of tons of fill could cause more subsidence in the older and higher parts of the city, setting them up for future hurricane damage. Likewise, expanded levee systems could accelerate the destruction of wetlands that provide natural protection against a storm surge.
In short, federal, state and local authorities need to do some serious thinking before settling on a long-term rebuilding strategy in the Gulf states. No one should be forced to leave New Orleans against his or her will, but it is clear that federal policy needs to shift to ensure that residents who seek safer venues or better opportunities elsewhere have the ability to do so.
