Blog Assignment #4 (Lower 9th Ward)

                Hi, good evening, every one.  I am Vince, and this is my fourth blog assignment which asks me to summarize my findings on the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.  I will introduce the Lower Ninth Ward from 3 aspects: before Hurricane Katrina, being attacked, and after Hurricane Katrina.

                On August 23, 2005 New Orleans was attacked by Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed entire neighborhoods.  During Hurricane Katrina, 2,000 people died, and hundreds of thousands of people lost their home.  More seriously, most of them were poor people.  Government had a $105 billion budget for rebuild, but that was far not enough to rebuild. However, we cannot expect government to cover all the lost.  All Americans have to make their efforts to help New Orleans.

                Before Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Mayor had warned people how serious it was and asked people to leave.  However, many people still stayed in the town, especially for the people who lived in Lower 9^th Ward.  Actually, there were three reasons.  First, some people thought it was like the old hurricanes which would not cause terrible consequence.  Second, some people thought their properties were most important to them, so they had to stay and protected their properties.  Third, the people who had no wealth could not leave even though they wanted.  Many people lived in Lower 9th Ward did not have a car, and they could not afford the expense when they escaped. 

                After 4 months, almost all houses were damaged, and there were few people lived in Lower 9th Ward.  Some victims said that the flood was too fast for them to react, and they could not even image that.  In addition, a victim explained that “many people lived here were poor and elderly” (Hurricane Katrina: The Drive: New Orleans Lower 9th Ward).  Poor people and elderly people did not have wealth, so they could not afford the expense if they left their home.  Even if they could escape, their home was all they had.  Once their home was ruined, they had nothing to rely on.  In fact, wealthy people did not have to worry about it because they could easily rebuild their home with money. 

                6 year later, there were lots of grasses in New Orleans, and many buildings were for sale, and people were hardly seen.  Hopefully, Politicians and leaders were planning to rebuild, and many environmental group and volunteers offered their help.   However, Pierce said placing business in Lower 9^th Ward could hardly make any profit because those people who live in Lower 9^th Ward were low-income and they did not have extra money to buy goods.  Lynette Gibson held different opinion, and he said building business in Lower 9^th Ward was necessary because it could bring people back to the town so that Lower 9^th Ward would become rich, and they could have ability to rebuild.

                In conclusion, money could help people get through Hurricane Katrina.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  r      Eggers,Dave.  Zeitoun.  New York: Vintage Books,2009. Print. 

"    Katrina aftermath"

"    Hurricane Katrina: The Drive: New Orleans Lower 9^th Ward" 

      Demby, Gene. "6 Years After Katrina, Lower 9th Ward Still Bleak." The Huffington Post.com, 28 Aug. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/28/6-years-after-katrina-low_n_939782.html>.