Housing Rights for New Orleans Hurricane Survivors
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When considering the rebuilding of New Orleans, every issue eventually boils down to housing. Housing for those who've evacuated, housing for those who've returned, housing for contractors ...
Evacuees are growing weary of getting jerked around with no real long term solutions being offered. Meanwhile the city is attempting to close down most of the Public Housing Developments in New Orleans even though they recieved VERY LITTLE damage. Landlords have been getting in on the act by throwing tenants property into the street, breaking leases and jacking the rent up on the profiteers that are dividing up New Orleans like Haliburton is dividing up Baghdad. This is a fine example of how perverse it is to put Profit over People.
This video includes interviews from evacuees in NY and those who've returned to New Orleans. This issue is currently effecting the lives of thousands of people and it's still not too late to help put pressure where it needs to be put to force the goverenment to deal with these people properly.
People who had leases with HANO and want to join the lawsuit against HANO can sign up online at: http://publichousing.justiceforneworleans.org
Public Housing Update April 06, 2006
NEW video shows residents prevented from cleaning their apartments by the Police
Related Links ::: Katrina Action, N.O. H.E.A.T., On the Ground, Common Ground Collective, Community Labor United, Kahvi, Ben Frank, The Katrina Files
Labels: Disaster Relief, Fascism, Fluxview USA, Housing, New Orleans, Racism, Terrorism
Stumble It!
posted by ~ FluxRostrum at 4:20 PM
7 Comments:
Devastating footage of the damage... and why were they breaking into those 2nd storey houses and throwing stuff out? Don't the tenants get a chance to get their belonings?
ps- cool transparent special fx
Basically, no they don't get a chance to get their stuff. Initially, those evacuated were told they could not return yet, those who did return anyway were able to save their stuff and in many cases were able to save their homes from the mold. Those who followed orders and did not return right away have had their stuff looted and the mold has rendered their homes unlivable.
By not allowing folks to come back immediately the government insured that more property would be ruined or stolen.
> Lawyers' Committee for
> Civil Rights Under Law
> 1401 New York Ave. Suite 400
> Washington DC 20005
> 202-662-8600 tel
> 202-783-0857 fax
>
>
> FEMA's Short-Term Hotel Program
>
> Since Hurricane Katrina struck land, FEMA has not kept track of which
> registered hurricane evacuees are staying in hotels paid for by FEMA. On
> December 12, 2005 a judge in New Orleans ruled that FEMA must extend its
> hotel program until all evacuees receive a decision about their application
> for rental assistance. Therefore, FEMA has now created an AUTHORIZATION
> CODE in order to keep track of which evacuees are staying in hotels.
>
> All hurricane evacuees currently staying in hotels or seeking shelter in
> hotels must call FEMA before JANUARY 30, 2006 in order to register for
> Section 408 assistance (hotel lodging) and obtain an authorization code.
> You must obtain this authorization code even if you have already registered
> with FEMA.
>
> *Please note that an authorization code is different than your FEMA
> registration number.
>
> To receive an authorization code, please call FEMA at 1-800-621-3362.
> Tell FEMA that you are calling for an authorization code. FEMA will give
> you the code over the phone, then you must give this code to the hotel
> front desk by January 30, 2005
>
> For all evacuees who call FEMA to receive an authorization code, FEMA
> will continue to pay for their hotel stay through at least February 13th,
> 2006.
>
> Once you call FEMA and receive an authorization code, then:
>
> · You can stay in the hotel until at least February 13, 2006.
>
> · If FEMA has NOT sent you rental assistance or a denial notice
> BY January 30, 2006, then you can stay in the hotel until March 1, 2006 or
> two weeks after you received a notice (whichever comes later)
> .
> *For example, if you receive a letter from FEMA dated February 28, 2006,
> then you can remain in the hotel until March 14, 2006. If you receive a
> letter from FEMA dated February 1, 2006, then you can remain in the hotel
> until March 1, 2006.
>
>
> You must follow the date printed on the letter from FEMA in order to
> determine the length of your hotel stay.
>
>
> If you do not call FEMA for an authorization code by January 30th, then
> FEMA will no longer pay for your hotel room after February 7th.
>
>
> After January 10, 2006 all new evacuees checking into a hotel paid by
> FEMA must provide an authorization code.
>
> .
> All evacuees currently living in hotels paid by FEMA can continue to
> stay in those hotels through at least February 7th. FEMA will not pay for
> hotel stays for evacuees without a FEMA authorization code beginning Feb 7.
> 2006.
>
>
> Important Dates
>
> · January 10, 2006 - January 30, 2006:
> New evacuees checking into hotels must have an authorization code
>
> · January 30, 2006: Final day to
> register for a FEMA authorization code.
>
> · February 7, 2006: Last day you can
> stay in the hotel without an authorization code.
>
> · February 13, 2006: This is the last
> day you can stay in the hotel if you 1) received an authorization code and
> 2) received FEMA rental assistance or a denial for rental assistance before
> January 30, 2006.
>
> · March 1, 2006: Day you must leave the
> hotel if you 1) received an authorization code and 2) received FEMA rental
> assistance or a denial notice after January 30, 2006, 0R
> Two Weeks (Whichever is later): The amount of time you have a right to
> stay in the hotel after you receive FEMA rental assistance or a denial
> notice.
> *For example, if you received a notice on February 28, 2006, then you
> can stay in the hotel until March 14, 2006. However, if you received a
> denial notice on February 1st, you can stay in the hotel until March 1st,
> 2006.
>
>
> To receive an authorization code, please call FEMA at 1-800-621-3362
>
January 27, 2006
Study Says 80% of New Orleans Blacks May Not Return
By JAMES DAO
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — New Orleans could lose as much as 80 percent of
its black population if its most damaged neighborhoods are not rebuilt
and if there is not significant government assistance to help poor
people return, a detailed analysis by Brown University has concluded.
Combining data from the 2000 census with federal damage assessment
maps, the study provides a new level of specificity about Hurricane
Katrina's effect on the city's worst-flooded areas, which were heavily
populated by low-income black people.
Of the 354,000 people who lived in New Orleans neighborhoods where the
subsequent damage was moderate to severe, 75 percent were black, 29
percent lived below the poverty line, more than 10 percent were
unemployed, and more than half were renters, the study found.
The report's author, John R. Logan, concluded that as much as 80
percent of the city's black population might not return for several
reasons: their neighborhoods would not be rebuilt, they would be
unable to afford the relocation costs, or they would put down roots in
other cities.
For similar reasons, as much as half of the city's white population
might not return, Dr. Logan concluded.
"The continuing question about the hurricane is this: Whose city will
be rebuilt?" Dr. Logan, a professor of sociology, writes in the
report.
If the projections are realized, the New Orleans population will
shrink to about 140,000 from its prehurricane level of 484,000, and
the city, nearly 70 percent black before the storm, will become
majority white.
The study, financed by a grant from the National Science Foundation,
was released Thursday, 10 days after the mayor of New Orleans, C. Ray
Nagin, who is black, told an audience that "this city will be a
majority African-American city; it's the way God wants it to be."
Mr. Nagin's remark was widely viewed as an effort to address criticism
of a proposal by his own rebuilding panel, the Bring New Orleans Back
Commission, that calls for a four-month building moratorium in heavily
damaged areas. He said later that he had not meant to suggest that
white people would not be encouraged to return.
"Certainly Mayor Nagin's comments reflected a concern on the ground
about the future of the city," Dr. Logan said. "My report shows that
there is a basis for that concern."
The study coincides with growing uncertainty about what government
assistance will be available for property owners and renters.
Louisiana will receive $6.2 billion in federal block grants under an
aid package approved by Congress in December, part of which will be
used to help homeowners. But that will not be enough money to help all
property owners in storm-damaged areas, Louisiana officials say.
Those officials have urged Congress to enact legislation proposed by
Representative Richard H. Baker, Republican of Louisiana, creating a
corporation that would use bond proceeds to reimburse property owners
for part of their mortgages, then redevelop the property. But the Bush
administration has said it opposes the bill, out of concerns that it
would be too expensive and would create a new government bureaucracy.
Asked Thursday about his opposition to the measure, President Bush
told reporters that the $85 billion already allocated for Gulf Coast
restoration was "a good start." He added that he was concerned that
Louisiana did not have a clear recovery plan in place.
But Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, a Democrat who has
clashed frequently with the White House, said Mr. Baker's bill
provided a clear plan.
"Administration officials do not understand the suffering of the
people of Louisiana," Ms. Blanco said in a statement.
Demographers are divided over the likelihood of a drastic shift in New
Orleans's population. William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings
Institution who has studied the hurricane's impact on the city, called
Dr. Logan's projections "a worst-case scenario that will come about
only if these evacuees see that they have no voice in what is going
on."
But Dr. Frey also said low-income evacuees might indeed begin to put
down roots in cities like Houston or Dallas if they did not see
movement toward reconstruction in the next six months.
Elliott B. Stonecipher, a political consultant and demographer from
Shreveport, La., said that unless New Orleans built housing in
flood-protected areas for low-income residents, and also provided
support for poor people to relocate, chances were good that many
low-income blacks would not return.
"If they didn't have enough resources to get out before the storm,"
Mr. Stonecipher said, "how can we expect them to have the wherewithal
to return?"
Unfortunately, as noted, the longer it takes for progress to begin, the more people will not return. This is probably the ultimate goal, anyway.
http://cwmaxwell.atspace.com
http://cwmaxwell.blogspot.com
Good Vlog!
St. Bernard Must Restart!!!
Mayor Nagin says he wants residents to return. Well, make it happen for New
Orleans' St. Bernard public housing residents--reopen the development now!
Stop the roadblocks!!! Make the right of return real!!!
Join St. Bernard Public Housing Tenant leader Malva McFadden, other St.
Bernard Residents, Civil engineer Marty Rowland, and supporters for a
Demonstration and Press Conference to Demand the Reopening of the St.
Bernard Public Housing Development.
Tuesday, February 14
3:30 PM
St. Bernard Health Clinic
3639 St. Bernard Ave.
Study by civil engineer Marty Rowland shows that St. Bernard can be
repaired. Results presented at Press Conference. Do not use the hurricane as
an excuse to bulldoze the St. Bernard community!!!
We Demand:
* Formal commitment from the HUD controlled Housing Authority of New Orleans
(HANO) to reopen the St. Bernard development.
* HANO needs to prepare to open St. Bernard by April 15, 2006. People have
been away long enough!
* No demolition of the Florida or Desire developments. Homes must be
repaired and rebuilt. Do Not use hurricane as pretext to destroy public
hosing and other public services.
* Reopen the St. Bernard health clinic and place health clinics in all the
public housing developments. Accept offer of aid from Cuban government of
doctors to staff them.
Sponsors: NOHEAT, C3/Hands Off Iberville, St. Bernard Public Housing
Network, Tenant Council leader Malva McFadden
For more information call 504-520-9521
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