[StBernard] BR Newspaper Sees "Long to-do list for Louisiana; " Stats Reflect Need

[Westley Annis]

Baton Rouge Newspaper Sees "Long to-do list for Louisiana"
Cites 81,000 businesses affected, 786,000 residents displaced, at least 10
World Trade Center sites of debris removed 

Note: Updated data on Louisiana's impact from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
can be found on the LRA website at the following link:
http://lra.louisiana.gov/assets/12212005.ppt  .


Periodically the LRA shares editorials and columns about hurricane recovery.
The following editorial ran today in the Baton Rouge Advocate. It can be
found at the following link:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/122205/opi_views1001.shtml
<http://keelson.eatel.net/websites/la.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=a
ddClick&msg_ID=646&ID=dDjnk%40m%3AlHms&redirect=http://www.2theadvocate.com/
stories/122205/opi_views1001.shtml> . 


December 22, 2005
Editorial
The Advocate (Baton Rouge)

Long to-do list for Louisiana 

If there is any doubt about the incredible and unprecedented challenges
still facing Louisiana in the coming weeks and months -- indeed years --
just take a look at some of the numbers. 

More than 81,000 businesses have been affected throughout the metropolitan
New Orleans region and in southwest Louisiana, where Rita packed a nasty
punch. More than 15,000 of those are, in the bureaucratic prose of the
Louisiana Recovery Authority, "nonoperational." 

And that's just the beginning of how Louisiana residents' lives and
livelihoods have been disrupted by the one-two punch of hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. 

LRA Executive Director Andy Kopplin provided a rundown of the
still-staggering numbers of people suffering from the storms' impact, even
100 days out from the first landfall. 

The storms still have displaced 786,000 residents, with new placements in
temporary housing -- mostly FEMA trailers -- averaging more than 400 a day.
That's not enough, but it's at least housing that the Federal Emergency
Management Authority can by law pay for, Kopplin said. 

Some LRA members and local authorities are trying to get FEMA money to help
repair apartment complexes, to provide more stable housing situations for
evacuees and returnees. But that appears to be something of a long shot
because the laws governing storm relief just weren't written to encompass
this scale of disaster. 

Other signs of the scale: About 22.7 million cubic yards of debris are to be
removed, the equivalent of approximately 10 World Trade Center sites from
2001. The removal process is about half done, Kopplin said. 

About 10 million pounds of hazardous waste must be collected, and agencies
are about a third of their way done with that. 

Speaking of ugly hazards, about 300,000 refrigerators, air conditioners,
freezers and the like must be collected, with most of those already rounded
up. 

Almost 2,400 marine vessels of various kinds must be salvaged, and of that
number more than 1,700 remain. There were more than 354,000 claims for
unemployment insurance, although the rate of new claims is now much lower
than in September and October. There were 77,000 claims from the Baton Rouge
area alone. 

Agencies are still working to identify bodies and return them to families,
and to find about 4,200 missing people. 

While our friends in Mississippi suffered severely from Katrina, Kopplin
said New Orleans and Louisiana face a rebuilding challenge of
disproportionate magnitude. 

About 234,000 homes in New Orleans were severely affected, three times the
number in Mississippi. Compared with Mississippi, almost 10 times as many
businesses were affected, and five times as many jobs lost. 

The numbers in Kopplin's report to the LRA board are posted on the Internet
at http://lra.louisiana.gov  . It is by any standard a sobering look at how
much needs to be done before Louisiana can be well on the road to recovery
from an unprecedented natural disaster. 

__________________________________ 

The LRA, a 26- member body appointed by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
to identify and prioritize short and long-term needs of the recovery, is the
planning and coordinating body that will assist in implementing the
Governor's vision for the recovery of Louisiana. It will seek out and value
local input as it plans and implements the recovery. 

### 

The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), Louisiana's fund for
Louisiana's people, has been established by Governor Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco in order to support long-term family restoration and recovery and
help provide assistance to our citizens in need through a network of
Louisiana charities and non-profit agencies. 

1-877-HELPLA1 (877-435-7521) www.louisianahelp.org