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Report from the ninth ward

Common Dreams
by Mary Beth Appell

12/07/05

The residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans were finally allowed to return home on December 1, 2005. The neighborhood is home to nearly 20,000 African-American citizens and was devastated by the flooding during and after Katrina. This was the very first time they were legally permitted to visit their homes. ... Everywhere else in New Orleans you can see people fixing roofs, clearing debris, working hard to reclaim their homes. But not in the Lower Ninth Ward which has been officially closed for three months and guarded by heavily armed army and police. Three months after the floods and hurricane, all the shelters are closed. People are coming back home and have nowhere to go. I heard that at most one quarter of the residents are here, the rest are spread out across the south and the country. I write because the Red Cross has been saying to potential volunteers, 'We don't need you in New Orleans. Go to Pakistan.' My experiences in New Orleans say otherwise...

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1207-23.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp