Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters The Perspective from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi: Summary of a Workshop (2011) / Chapter Skim
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3 A Tour of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
3 A Tour of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Pages 27-42
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From page 27... ...
Other local experts joined the committee on the bus for discrete portions of their tour, including, in New Orleans, Pam Jenkins, professor of criminal justice and women's studies at the University of New Orleans; Doug Meffert, the Eugenie Schwartz Professor of River and Coastal Studies at Tulane University; Charles Allen III, director of the Office of Coastal and Environmental Affairs in New Orleans; and Tracy Nelson, director of the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development. In Mississippi, the committee was joined by Tracie Sempier, coastal storms outreach coordinator for the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.
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From page 28... ...
During Katrina, two sections of floodwall fronting the Lower Ninth Ward gave way, and a powerful surge of water, along with an illegally moored barge, flowed into the Lower Ninth. The neighborhood also suffered flooding from levee overtopping in neighboring St.
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From page 29... ...
Several substantial recovery efforts are under way in the Ninth Ward. For example, the committee stopped at the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development in the Holy Cross neighborhood, which is just south of the Lower Ninth Ward between the Industrial Canal and St.
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From page 30... ...
For example, research is under way to investigate the use of the Mississippi River for hydrokinetic energy through in-stream energy generation systems, said Doug Meffert, the Eugenie Schwartz Professor of River and Coastal Studies at Tulane University and deputy director for policy at the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, who also spoke at the center. "We need to look at water as a strategic resource," he said.
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From page 31... ...
NEW ORLEANS EAST AND THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY New Orleans East is a suburban "city within a city" developed during the oil boom of the 1970s and early 1980s. The area, which is bounded by Lake Pontchartrain to the north, the Industrial Canal to the west, the Intracoastal Waterway to the south, and swamp and marshland to the east, was built to compete against suburbanizing Jefferson Parish to the west of the city (see Appendix D for locations)
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From page 32... ...
On the eastern edge of New Orleans East is the community of Village de L'Est, which is home to a large Vietnamese population. About 8,000 Vietnamese residents live among the heavily African American and Hispanic populations of New Orleans East.
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From page 33... ...
Reconstruction of homes and property was easier in the United States than in Vietnam, they said, because they had the support of local communities and governments. Also, the Vietnamese community in New Orleans East was larger and more cohesive than Vietnamese communities elsewhere in the United States, which was an advantage during the recovery period.
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From page 34... ...
Leaving Highway 10, the committee traveled to the Gulf Coast town of Waveland, Mississippi, a working-class suburban community of about 10,000 residents before Katrina that grew following the opening of the Stennis Space Center. Waveland is located southeast of Bay St.
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From page 35... ...
The committee stopped at the Waveland Community Civic Center, which was rebuilt following Katrina to be more resilient to floods and wind. During Katrina, the water level was 11 feet inside the building, which was built on ground measuring 15 feet above sea level.
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From page 36... ...
Discussion of rising sea level or climate change can generate strongly negative reactions among many residents, so emergency planners tend to talk in terms of higher and more frequent storm surges. Garcia noted that the focus of media attention and relief efforts has been on New Orleans since Katrina.
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From page 37... ...
Some rebuilt homes have been elevated 40 or more feet above ground level, requiring a climb of several stories to enter the front door. The committee then drove along the Gulf Coast through the towns of Henderson Point, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi.
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From page 38... ...
The committee's final stop was at the Knight Nonprofit Center in Gulfport, near Highway 10 and approximately 5 miles from the beach. Many nonprofit organizations lost their offices during Katrina, and after the storm several nonprofit organizations and foundations formed a partnership to buy a building from Harrah's Casino, renaming it the John S
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From page 39... ...
The building is far enough away from the beach to be well protected in another hurricane. That knowledge provides organizations in the building with the confidence that they can respond immediately following a disaster rather than having to regroup in a disaster's aftermath.
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From page 40... ...
The representatives from the nonprofit organizations also said that Gulf Coast had an advantage over New Orleans in that neighborhoods were not flooded for weeks after the storm. People could return to their homes and businesses and begin to rebuild.
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From page 41... ...
Small businesses may experience spe cial difficulties in resuming operations, requiring that government and nonprofit organizations provide assistance. The panelists discussed the idea that, rather than closing areas to the public, government and nonprofits could work together to try to get them open and functioning again.
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From page 42... ...
42 INCREASING NATIONAL RESILIENCE TO HAZARDS AND DISASTERS many elderly people, did not want to leave their homes and leave their pets behind. A major concern after disasters is the mental health of the people affected.
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