Pledged purpose with residents in continuing struggle to protect and rebuild the Gulf Coast
Pledged purpose with residents in continuing struggle to protect and rebuild the Gulf CoastPresident Barack Obama arrived in still-struggling New Orleans yesterday to join residents marking five years since flood waters driven by Hurricane Katrina inundated the famous jazz capital.
In a speech at Xavier University, which like 80 per cent of the city was submerged by flood waters in 2005, Obama said, "My administration is going to stand with you and fight alongside you until the job is done."
You are not alone:u00a0US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle
Obama greet the crowd at Xavier University, as they arrive to attend a
ceremony on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
yesterday. Obama arrived in still-struggling New Orleans to join residents
marking five years since flood waters driven by Hurricane Katrina
inundated the famous jazz capital. Pic/AFPReduced red tapismClaiming that his administration had cut red tape and cleared the way for 170 projects, he added, "We are helping to make New Orleans a place that stands for what we can do in America, not just for what we can't do."
Rebuilding effortsThe federal government has spent or committed nearly $114 billion in recovery and relief efforts for Katrina and two following hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, including housing loans, grants and the cost of reconstructing levees to provide flood protection for 100 years.
The government effort has been joined and sometimes embarrassed by a massive volunteer and charitable effort that has led to hopes that the city can be better than it was before the hurricanes struck.
It has become a showcase for relatively cheap, environmentally friendly homes, as charities and non-profit groups have invested large amounts of time and energy in resurrecting a city valued across the nation for its music, cuisine and culture.
The poverty rate remains high, at 23 per cent, compared with 13 per cent nationally, and crime is well above national rates according to a report by the Brookings Institution in Washington.u00a0
Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University, said he was "more optimistic" about the city's future than he had ever been.
As memories of the destruction caused by Katrina fade, the more pressing concern for many is now the impact of the oil spill, which was the worst in US history, spewing barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a well 40 miles off the Louisiana coast.
Obama made a lunch stop before the afternoon speech, ordering a shrimp po'boy at the Parkway Bakery and Tavern, a 100-year-old restaurant, eating with his family.
