One Year After Katrina Landfall, Whitehouse Calls Administration's Response Incompetent
August 28, 2006
One Year After Katrina Landfall, Whitehouse Calls Administration's Response Incompetent and Inadequate
Needless Delays, Lax Oversight Crippling New Orleans as City Works to Rebuild
Cranston, R.I. - One year after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, devastating New Orleans and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse today assailed the Bush administration's failure to adequately respond to the disaster. Despite pledges to provide the necessary resources to rebuild New Orleans, reconstruction efforts have made insufficient progress in key areas and federal assistance has been plagued by fraud and failures in execution.
"As the storm neared land, the Bush administration turned a blind eye to the reality of Katrina's threat - and then, as the waters rose, turned its back on hundreds of thousands of Americans without the ability or the means to evacuate the city," Whitehouse said. "The tragic failure of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina is a stunning indictment of this administration's priorities. We need new leadership in Washington that will restore competence to our government."
Despite twelve months to recover, New Orleans has seen less than half of its pre-storm population return, in large part due to the lack of temporary FEMA trailer housing and affordable housing available. Rent prices have increased 39% since last year and over 8,000 homeowners in the greater New Orleans area are still waiting for trailer housing.
The infrastructure and public services of New Orleans also remain in shambles, with only half of bus and street car routes back in service. Gas service has been restored to only 41% of the New Orleans customer base, and only 60% of customers have re-established electrical services. Almost 80% of childcare centers are still unavailable, 50% of hospitals remain closed, and of the 128 public schools, only 56 will enroll students this year. The current unemployment level remains higher than pre-Katrina levels, with over 190,000 jobs lost in the last year.
Incumbent Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee voted multiple times against legislation that would have established an independent commission to investigate the federal response to Katrina. He also voted against creating a committee to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse in the awarding of reconstruction contracts. [SRC 6, 2/2/06; SRC 229, 9/14/05; SRC 259, 10/19/05]
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