October 5, 2005
Gulfport, MS
La Batre, AL
I spent last night in New Orleans and had breakfast this morning with relief workers in Metairie, Louisiana. It was a pleasure to meet them and to have an opportunity to tell them personally how much I appreciated their selfless dedication to helping others. Afterward, I flew to Gulfport, Mississippi to continue my tour of the region.
In Gulfport, I visited the predominantly African-American community of Forest Heights. It’s a proud neighborhood, where most residents own houses they’ve lived in for decades. The entire area was devastated by the hurricane, with debris scattered everywhere and blue tarps covering what were once roofs. I met with members of the community under a canopy in one resident’s yard, and everyone agreed that they loved their neighborhood the way it used to be, when multiple generations lived together and Forest Heights had a strong community spirit. Because they weren’t in an area previously identified as being at risk of flooding, few had any flood insurance, and so no money was being made available to help them rebuild. Most residents just wanted to be given a chance to rebuild their homes and to restore Forest Heights’ way of life.
Credit: Clinton Foundation
A damaged ship in Bayou La Batre. |
I also visited Bayou La Batre, a city on the Gulf Coast of Alabama centered around the shrimping and crabbing industry. All of the seafood processing plants in town were damaged, and at least 800 homes were flooded. I spoke to a seventh generation shrimper whose warehouse was destroyed. He doesn’t know how he’ll get back on his feet, and he feared the end of his family’s way of life. I talked to another man, Al, who told me that he made his living hauling wood pallets to store shrimp. His business wasn’t physically destroyed by the hurricane, but there isn’t anything for him to haul anymore. We can’t let Hurricane Katrina ruin an entire town’s economy, and the people of
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Gulfport, Bayou La Batre, and the entire Gulf Coast region deserve to have their livelihoods restored.
Bayou La Batre has a large Vietnamese-American community, and in addition to sharing the problems faced by everyone in town, they have their own struggles. A number of them don’t speak English, so it’s harder to get the help they need from FEMA or relief workers. Many told me they felt like they had been forgotten. We have to remember to seek out people who might be slipping through the cracks of the recovery process. That’s what the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund is all about. My visit to Bayou La Batre was a good reminder of how important this can be.
That completed my fact-finding trip to the Gulf Coast region. I learned a lot about Hurricane Katrina’s impact, and the trip generated many ideas about how the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund can best be used. I was touched by the compassion shown by relief workers, many of whom were volunteers that came from elsewhere in the country, and I was moved by the resilient spirit of those affected by the disaster. The process of recovery will be long -- even after many of the most immediate needs are met, the region will require our continued support. I urge everyone, whether you contributed or not, to give a little more in three months, or six months, or even a year. We can’t forget about the residents of the Gulf Coast. They need our help.
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Read more about the trip to the Gulf Coast Region here.
October 4
Baton Rouge and New Orleans, LA
When President Bush asked former President Bush and me to raise money
for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I was honored to lend my support
to such a critical effort. We’ve raised over $100 million so far,
and yesterday I traveled to Louisiana to survey the damage and meet with
survivors and government leaders to determine how the Bush-Clinton Katrina
Fund can best help the people of the Gulf Coast Region.
The Bush-Clinton Fund is designed to provide money to fill some of the
gaps in the relief effort, so I thought it was important to talk to those
most affected by Hurricane Katrina. First, I went to the Baton Rouge River
Center to meet with evacuees. About 1,000 people, mostly from New Orleans,
are living on cots in this convention center facility.
Credit: Clinton Foundation
Talking with evacuees at a shelter in Baton Rouge. |
As I talked to the evacuees, it became
clear that they all had different problems that needed to be addressed
in varying ways. I spoke to two men who worked with a contractor to
build housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but they couldn’t
pick up their paychecks because no transportation from the River Center
was available. I was able to help them, but I heard from many others
who complained about problems with the bureaucracy of the relief system.
One woman, whose baby has a heart defect, told me that the authorities
wanted to relocate her to New Orleans, but her baby was receiving
such good medical care in Baton Rouge that she didn’t want to
go. It’s immensely important that we eliminate the red tape
and take the time to listen to people’s concerns and respond
with individualized care. |
I continued on to New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, which suffered some
of the most severe flooding in the city. The Ninth Ward was devastated
-- in many ways, it looks even worse in person than on television. We
passed a house that had been moved five blocks from its original location
by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding.
The Ninth Ward was one of New Orleans’ poorer neighborhoods, and
while there I was reminded that when we rebuild this city, we have to
do it right. The city must be made more resistant to future hurricanes,
but we also have to make the most of our opportunity to address some of
the problems that existed in New Orleans before the hurricane. We can
make the schools better, ensure that environmental issues are under control,
and offer job training to returning evacuees.
I’m visiting Mississippi and Alabama tomorrow to continue surveying
the damage and talking to those affected by the hurricane. I’ve
met with some remarkable people and learned a lot about what we can do
to help them. I hope you’ll contribute what you can to this worthy
cause.
I’ve been touched by America’s generosity, but the Gulf Coast
will need help rebuilding months and even years from now, and they are
relying on your continued support. To donate money to the Bush Clinton
Katrina Fund, please visit www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org.
The site is now accepting grant proposals from community organizations
and state and local governments seeking to help fulfill unmet needs of
families and communities affected by Hurricane Katrina.
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Read more about the trip to the Gulf Coast Region here.
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