[StBernard] Letters to the Editor

[Westley Annis]

Pain and Progress in New Orleans

Tuesday, May 16, 2006; A16



Howard Kurtz's assessment of reconstruction in New Orleans lacked a critical
eye ["The Media's New Orleans Burnout," Outlook, May 7].

I worked for a FEMA contractor during the fall, helping to set up trailers
in St. Bernard Parish. Upon returning to New Orleans recently for Jazz Fest,
I saw a community that had made significant progress and showed real signs
of hope.

Where Mr. Kurtz saw "archaeological relics," I saw strip malls that had been
cleared and gutted, significantly opening the door for reinvestment and
safer environmental conditions.

Where Mr. Kurtz saw boats in streets, I saw functioning street lights and a
parish that was teeming with activity and traffic and that no longer
required FEMA badges for entry.

Rebuilding the physical neighborhoods of St. Bernard will take a long time,
but I did see FEMA trailers in front of nearly a quarter of homes there.
Many people are rebuilding their lives, homes and neighborhoods.

I hope future articles on New Orleans will bring us a more nuanced and
realistic assessment of conditions so that we can keep our minds informed
and energies focused on the rebirth of this great American city.

STEPHEN WADE

Washington

.

I appreciated Howard Kurtz's article about Katrina Fatigue.

I am a New Orleans native who lived in the Washington area for a decade
before returning home to seek a slower pace of life. In 2000 I bought the
home of my recently deceased mother and moved back to Chalmette in St.
Bernard Parish. But early news reports on Aug. 29 did not bode well, so my
family sought refuge on the familiar turf of Northern Virginia.

Despite President Bush's proclamations at Jackson Square, the reality that
things will never be the same slowly sank in, and we decided that we needed
to move to survive. Meanwhile, my old family home is filled with moldy
rubble. I had enough flood insurance to pay off the mortgage but not to
cover the contents, much less the loss of family and friends and the comfort
zone that a home provides.

I now have a worthless, vacant house in a silent neighborhood. Most people
have no clue of the pain felt by the 250,000 families of all races, faiths
and socioeconomic levels that were victims of Katrina. People really can't
understand the devastation unless they've seen it, even now, almost nine
months later.

GREG CHASE

Springfield

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