“In Katrina’s Wake: The National Guard on the Gulf Coast, 2005,” a book that chronicles the National Guard’s involvement in the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, has been released by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

This 64-page monograph, written by National Guard historians Bill Boehm, Renee Hylton, and Army Maj. Thomas W. Mehl, shows how Katrina first grew from a seemingly-routine Category One hurricane in Florida into a behemoth storm in the Gulf of Mexico bringing 150 mph-plus winds and large swells of water upon hundreds of thousands of people.

It struck Louisiana and Mississippi somewhat diminished in strength, but bringing with it the capability to flood 80 percent of the city of New Orleans as its levees failed, and to flatten buildings and structures in the state of Mississippi. Over 1,800 individuals were killed, and many more incapacitated.

The story of the National Guard during the time of the hurricane was not well-publicized, nor was it correctly reported by mass media outlets, said Boehm, who is the lead author of the book.

The National Guard undertook the largest humanitarian mission in recorded U.S. history by sending over 50,000 Soldiers and Airmen from all 54 states and territories to the stricken region for over a month.

This book focuses the readers on the tasks undertaken by the Guard in aiding marooned residents and assisting local authorities without overemphasizing political or social commentary prevalent in reporting the larger story.

It also uses oral histories recorded by soldiers and airmen on the ground to illustrate the stark conditions present there and includes maps, photographs, and multiple appendices that further detail the National Guard units that came to the Gulf States, and a timeline that shows how events progressed, Boehm said.

The book can be found on the National Guard Website.

DVIDS

Comparisons between the American fund raising results for Haitian earthquake relief and the efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami are inevitable. Private giving by Americans, individuals, foundations and corporations has always been generous. Our economy is significantly weaker than it was in 2004-2005 and that may be the biggest factor affecting giving to date.

Some of the historical numbers include money raised by churches. Those collections have happened but have not been reported publicly as far as can be determined for the Haiti relief effort.

Here are the current results as recorded on this site. The column titles are links to the articles on that topic.

This table will be updated as the donations continue for Haitian relief. Obviously there is quite a ways to go to catch up to the levels from Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami.

Due to reconfiguration of this site, the links the Anchoress uses in her post 100 Hours after Katrina are no longer valid. Here are the correct links:

Poop About Pumps: http://northshorejournal.org/katrina-poop-about-pumps

Private American aid: http://northshorejournal.org/ameraid/ameraidamer.html

Other Countries Offer Help: http://northshorejournal.org/katrina-other-countries-offer-help

I’ve banged on Louisiana for its foot-dragging with the Gulf recovery efforts, but now it’s Mississippi’s turn. The city of wavelad, nearly flattened by Hurricane Katrina, has lost its mind.

Sun Herald

City leaders denied several special permits Monday, prompting the world’s largest charity homebuilder to abandon plans to construct new houses for more than 70 local families.

The Board of Aldermen supported a recommendation from city planners to deny special permits that would have allowed Habitat for Humanity to build nearly 20 new homes on lots that are smaller than the city’s code requires.

Habitat, which is building thousands of houses along the Gulf Coast, was planning to build at least 70 new homes in Waveland, where more than 200 families remain on a waiting list.

Instead, Habitat will finish up work on “two or three” homes for families who already own property large enough to meet the city’s standards. After that, the group will look elsewhere.

“We’ll find places to build, but it won’t be in Waveland,” said Wendy McDonald, who runs the Hancock County chapter of Habitat. “We will focus the bulk of our energy on communities that are more receptive to smaller-sized lots.”

McDonald has said large lots are more expensive, which drives the mortgage payments out of reach for most Habitat homeowners.

In addition, she said many who qualify for Habitat homes are senior citizens and single moms who would have trouble caring for a large lot.

“I’m not so sure any affordable housing builder can afford to build on larger lots; the math just doesn’t work,” McDonald said. “There’s no consideration for affordable housing in Waveland and that’s where the housing shortage is the most severe.”

The 20 lots that were denied are in the predominantly black neighborhood of Middletown, but Alderman Brian Schmitt said most of the resistance came from residents living in different parts of the city. “The opposition wasn’t just from Middletown, it was from everywhere,” Schmitt said. “People don’t want smaller lots and that’s what the ordinance is there for.”

Schmitt, who represents parts of Middletown, said he wrestled with the decision for weeks, and casting a vote that could prevent construction of dozens of homes can make it tough to sleep at night. “Having to make that decision killed me,” he said. “I went home and cried like a baby.”

Since March, aldermen have approved several recommendations from city planners allowing special permits similar to the requests they denied from Habitat. One property owner was allowed to divide his property into eight lots, each seven feet smaller than the city’s code requires, and another homeowner was allowed to divide one lot into two, one of which did not meet the city’s square-footage requirement.

However, Schmitt said, none of those requests caused nearly the kind of fuss that surrounded Habitat’s plan. He said such large-scale development on small lots could jeopardize property values for existing homeowners, and homes built close together could create dangerous fire hazards.

This is just plain stupid. Racism? Who knows? But it’s 70 homes that will not appear on the tax rolls. Can Waveland really afford to be that short sighted? Waveland was levelled, essentially zero property values.

Homes built close together is called city living. It creates no appreciably greater fire hazard.

What a bunch of maroons! [Bugs Bunny]

I was sceptical a few weeks ago when I wrote about the vast sums of money that the Feds were giving to Gulf Coast homeowners. I figured a lot of folks were going to add to the waste we’ve already seen.

Boy, was I wrong! I admit it. I never saw this coming.

Louisiana cannot manage to give the money away.

WWL-TV

Only 11 people have received a check so far from the Louisiana Recovery Authority and only about 250 have been told they’ll be receiving money, a pace that brought shocked responses from some officials at a public hearing Friday.

The LRA has about $10 billion to distribute to homeowners and they’ve had the funds for about three months. There are nearly 27,000 applicants.

“We have over $10 billion at disposal,” said State Senator Derrick Shepherd, D-Marrero. “If we can’t spend it in an effective manner, maybe the president and Congress gave it to the wrong people.”

LRA Chairman Dr. Norman Francis disagreed with the assessment. He said three months is not a long time and he said that the group worked hard to put in safeguards to make sure everything was in place before the funds were distributed. He said the LRA expects to start conducting about 1,000 interviews a day by mid-October. And, they admit that it takes about six to eight weeks to get money once the interview and application are completed.

That prompted Senator “Clo” Fontenot to question why little was done in advance of the state receiving the money. “We waited to make sure we had it all,” Francis conceded. “If that was a mistake, we take blame for it.”

An angry Sharon Lamberson, who lives in the city’s Holy Cross area, blames Louisiana politics for the trickle of aid. “All the filibustering, all the unnecessary meetings and planning must be stopped immediately,” she shouted.

And, cynical me points out that the delay allows the opportunity to let far more of this largesse slip into the cracks of the bureaucracy.

BTW, just a note to the people of Louisiana. These people work for you. Your tax dollars pay their salaries, and you voted for some of them. Cleanup begins at home.