Demographics of Katrina's impact

A report published by sociologists at Brown University details the hurricane's impact by race and economic status.

read the report

History of the canals

The Times-Picayune gives a history of the region's canals and levees.

Canal history

Armored levees

The Army Corps of Engineers is now suggesting that levees be armored in order to prevent erosion when water is high.

What the corps says

Environmental Health after Katrina

Dr. Joan Bennett, National Academy of Sciences member, and Scientist at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research of Tulane and Xavier Universities, reports on the prevalence and types of molds in flooded homes. The same issue also has an article about avian flu and the epidemic 1918.

The Molds of Katrina

Wetlands restoration and flood prevention

A team combining scientists and business leaders is trying to integrate wetlands restoration with plans for flood prevention.

Brainstorming restoration

New Orleans Riverfront

Today the riverfront is the domain of the Port, but going back in history, it was once a public place. A new book exploring the history of our riverfront is out, and its author and other experts will be speaking in a roundtable discussion open to the public, Friday the 27th at 5:30pm in Tulane's Richardson Memorial Building.

more information

Causes of the poor response

Tulane sociologist Kevin Gotham discusses government policies, such as privitization, that led to the poor response of governments at all levels after Hurricane Katrina.

Urban disasters

Record year

According to the National Academy of Sciences, 2005 was the hottest year on record, and the Tropical Storm season the busiest in human records.

read the report

Demolition controversy

The Washington Post reports on a conflict between city officials and preservationists in the ninth ward

read more

Rita-boards

Trees downed in Texas and Louisiana in Hurricane Rita are being milled into boards to be used to rebuild homes in Plaquemines parish.

read more

Learning from Katrina

This USA Today article describes some of the lessons hospitals learned about disaster preparedness from last year's disaster.

Hospitals learn

The big picture

A lecture series organized by Tulane Law Professor Oliver Houck, assesses the broad impact of the 2005 Hurricane season on New Orleans. The lectures are Friday afternoons at 3:30 pm.

More on the series

3000 volunteers

Students, alumni, faculty, and staff of Tulane, Xavier, Dillard and Loyola universities worked on Saturday to gut houses, pick up debris, and paint schools across the city.

Cleaning up

A Head Count

Tulane graduate students are looking for help in getting good numbers on our city's changing neighborhood populations

Raise your hands

Louisiana Recovery Authority

This week Governor Blanco toured the state with a team of experts who will submit a recovery plan to the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

LRA website

Levee board consolidation

This Times-Picayune article summarizes the arguments around levee board consolidation

Merging

Analysis of education plan

Several recent newpaper articles evaluate the the BNOB commission's education plan:

NY Times

BR Advocate

Rebuild carefully

As part of the Martin Luther King Jr Week of Peace Celebration, Jackson State University President Ron Mason discussed how important it is for the city to plan carefully for its future.

Smart Planning

Health Care Plans

The Bring New Orleans Back Commission has made plans to improve the city's health care system, and to ensure that it is ready for future storms and crises.

Times-Picayune on "Sweeping changes"

Bring New Orleans Back reports

Investigations into levees

This Times-Picayune article discusses the various investigations into the New Orleans levee system, and its failures after Hurricane Katrina.

Levee reports

Katrina stories

Tulane has created a site to host Katrina stories from faculty, staff, and students.

Read the stories

Education Plan released

The Bring New Orleans Back Commission's Education Committee, Chaired by Tulane President Scott Cowen, has released their plan to re-create the city's public schools.

The Education Plan

Tulane Surgeon Honored

Tulane Trauma Surgeon Norman McSwain has collected awards from the AARP, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and the US Special Operations Command. All this is in honor of the work he did in the days and weeks immediately following the hurricane.

McSwain's honors

Outreach New Orleans

Students from New Orleans' private universities, Dillard, Loyola, Tulane, and Xavier, will fan out across the city this Saturday, volunteering to help communities rebuild and recover.

Learn More

Dillard president speaks at Princeton's MLK celebration

Marvalene Hughes, president of Dillard University, was the keynote speaker at Princeton's celebration in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. In her speech she thanked Princeton and Brown Universities, which have developed a plan to help Dillard recover.

Hughes at Princeton

MLK and reopening celebrations

Gov. Blanco and Wynton Marsalis led a joint celebration of Tulane's reopening and the holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Celebration

Cultural comeback

The Bring New Orleans Back commission has a plan to bring back the city's cultural life as well. Reuters reports on this plan.

The future of New Orleans culture

Levee report

The Los Angeles Times reports on investigations into levee failure

Poor choices

President's comments

President Bush met with business and community leaders to discuss what he sees as the federal role in the reconstruction of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast

Transcript of comments

Katrina online

Some of Tulane's first years will develop a website telling the stories of Katrina's effects on New Orleans and its inhabitants.

Katrina's tales

Committee report

The Bring New Orleans back commission unveiled parts of their proposed plan yesterday, receiving strong responses

Times Picayune report

Map of the plan

Summary and Calendar

The commission's website and the full report

Link between hurricanes and global warming?

The New York Times interviews an eminent meteologist and hurricane expert from MIT about Hurricane Katrina, an extreme season of tropical storms and global warming

Warning

Corps of Engineers Completes New Orleans Canal Cleanup

If the word "canal" brings to mind images of Suez and Panama, or of singing gondoliers in historic Venice, think again. Hundreds of miles of canals snake through southern Louisiana parishes -- manmade waterways draining storm water to pump stations that hoist it up and outside the regional levee systems. Since Hurricane Katrina visited the area Aug. 29, very few of these waterways had been usable.

Dept of Defense Press Release

Patching New Orleans' spans

This article describes the process of rebuilding the damaged spans of the I-10 over Lake Ponchartrain

Bridges

Anticipated report

The future of New Orleans neighbourhoods devastated by Hurricane Katrina should be decided by market forces rather than government planners, the city’s mayor was urged on Wednesday.

Market forces

Gates will be added

The Army Corps intends to add gates to New Orleans canals by the start of the next hurricane season

Gated community

Planning for Restoration and Protection

An article in today's Times-Picayune describes plans to rebuild levees that include considerations of wetland restoration

2 Fold Plan

Dutch Help

This Reuters report summarizes the Dutch response to disastrous flooding in 1953, and how they might advise in the rebuilding of Louisiana's Levees

The Misery of 1953

Tulane Reading about Katrina

Every year Tulane first year students participate in a course that involves their reading a book and discussing it with their peers. Last year the book was Rising Tide by John Barry, and this year the plan was to have them read Mountains Beyond Mountains, a profile of Dr. Paul Farmer by Tracy Kidder. That original plan has changed, and now the students will focus on a series of articles about the hurricane, ranging from the technical to the emotional.

Reading Lessons

Rebuilding on hold

This New Orleans Times-Picayune editorial describes the legislation congress is considering to create the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and addresses some of the criticism of the proposed regulations.

Louisiana Recovery Authority

Charity Hospital Unlikely to Reopen

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Charity Hospital is unlikely to reopen. It appears that the building is now unusable, and state officials are exploring other options for delivering trauma services and indigent care in the region.

The future of Charity

College students return

USA Today reports on the return of college students to New Orleans for the spring semester. It describes the universities' responsed to housing problems, and includes a graphic showing the percentage of students returning to the city's colleges.

Return to College

Tsunami Cough

After the huge tsunami that swept the shores of Southeast Asia at the end of 2004 many survivors suffered from respiratory disease. This news report from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science's magazine "Environmental Health Perspectives" describes the phenomenon. Respiratory disease is a concern in areas of New Orleans contaminated by mold.

Flooding and Pneumonia

A Course in Disasters

There is a course at Tulane University this semester on Natural Disasters. From the teacher's course webpage you can follow links to other helpful sites, and find downloadable documents. Maybe you can design your own class on disasters, and help your community prepare itself for the future.

Geology 204

Natural Disaster Database

NASA manages and hosts a database with information and technical articles about natural disasters. This link will take you to page where you can search, or browse by type of disaster.

Natural Disaster Reference Database

Whose New Orleans?

Here is another Washington Post op-ed column about New Orleans. This one discusses the politics of race and class that are involved in making decisions about which neighborhoods to bulldoze, and which to rebuild.

New Orleans' Neighborhoods

Katrina's affects on Wildlife

LA's department of Game and Fish reports on the effects of the hurricane on the region's wildlife

Katrina and Wildlife

A New Marshall Plan

An editorial in the Baton Rouge Advocate compares the Marshall Plan--the U.S. initiative to rebuild post WWII Europe and Japan--to what the Gulf Coast needs today. It points out that strong leadership, not just money, is critical to recovery.

New Marshall Plan

How Vallejo Floods

This article discusses the floodplain of the Napa river and how residents and the Army Corps have responded to it.

Napa River

Harvard Study

Harvard researchers are recruiting volunteers for a study on the impact of a large natural disaster on psychological health.
It is expected that many affected by the storm will suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Harvard Study

Wash. Post editorial

This recent Washington Post editorial takes a stand on how New Orleans should be rebuilt

Lagoons

Loyola Series

Loyola University is hosting a series of discussions about the hurricane, the aftermath, and the reconstruction
beginning January 19th.

Loyola Discussions

Report to Congress

This is a very early (9/6/05) report to congress on the levees made by the Congressional Research Service:

CRS report on levees

Army Corps' Levee News

The Army Corps of Engineers has a frequently updated website with news about their work to reconstruct and strengthen the levees.

Army Corps News

Celebrate University Reopenings

Wynton Marsalis will speak and perform at a celebration marking the reopening of Tulane, Xavier, Dillard, and Loyola Universities. The event will be on MLK day, January 16th.

More Details

NIEHS news on New Orleans

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has a free online monthly publication, "Environmental Health Perspectives," which publishes news and scholarly articles about Public Health Issues across the world. This month they have several articles about Post Katrina New Orleans. Visit the magazine here:

EHP 1/05

Mold Report from CDC

One of the most important issues facing the city's inhabitants is mold. The CDC has published a report on mold which you can download here:

CDC Report on Mold

KERRN News

All the previous entries are important news items related to human and environmental health and the restoration and rebuilding of New Orleans since hurricane Katrina passed through the area in August.
These articles were posted at the website of KERRN, the Katrina Environmental Research and Restoration Network, hosted by The Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenviromental Research.
This weblog will serve as the news link of KERRN for the future.

Visit the KERRN main site

White House requests funds for levees

Pres. Bush requesed $1.5 billion in additional funding for the levee system in New Orleans

New Orleans Levees

One study, two wheels, three streets

CBR assistant director, author, and GIS expert Richard Campanella is collaborating with researchers at LSU on a study of the return of businesses to New Orleans

Campanella

Feds and State on safety

Federal and state agencies emphasize that there are few health risks from contaminants

Safe New Orleans

Experts on Rebuilding

The many panels advising the city and state on the rebuilding of the city include many experts whose opinions differ on some points and agree on others.

Experts include science

Realism urged

New ideas for New Orleans

EPA test results

The EPA has a website on which they post the results of their sampling from the city since the hurricanes. The amount of data is very large, and there is minimal interpretation or explanation, but it is the definitive site for human environmental quality testing.

EPA Testing

Sinking the sinking story

This Sunday's "60 Minutes" featured a story entitled "New Orleans Is Sinking." The piece included an interview with a St. Louis University professor named Tim Kusky. In the piece, Kusky is shown telling correspondent Scott Pelley that "[w]e should be thinking about a gradual pullout of New Orleans," because, thanks to coastal erosion, New Orleans will be a "fish bowl" by 2095 – a city completely surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico."...

Kusky's argument drew criticism even before the segment aired. After seeing a preview on the "60 Minutes" Web site last week, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco's hurricane recovery chief, Andy Kopplin, asked "60 Minutes" to hold the piece in a letter...


Critical questions

Three decades of trash

According to state estimates, the hurricane created 22 million tons of debris in southeast Louisiana, more than half of that in the New Orleans area. That includes debris from more than 160,000 homes, but it does not include about 350,000 vehicles and 35,000 recreational fishing boats that were damaged by floodwaters...

Talking trash

NRDC Site on Environmental Quality

The National Resource Defense Council has done some of its own testing on mold and contaminant levels in Post-Katrina New Orleans

NRDC results

USA today on NRC report

A discussion of the issues in the National Research Council's report on Louisiana wetlands

Restoration

EPA reports results of Murphy Oil tests

The EPA released results of sediment samples taken in areas affected by a one million gallon oil spill on Sept. 4, 2005 at the Meraux Refinery of Murphy Oil USA, Inc. in St. Bernard Parish, LA. The spill affected an estimated 1700 private residences and other public areas. The results showed that several samples exceeded screening levels for residential soil of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), diesel and oil range organic chemicals, and arsenic. EPA repeated its warning that, in the short-term, residents returning to the area should avoid direct contact with the crude oil contaminated sediments. Also this week, the EPA posted sampling results from five National Priority List sites in the New Orleans area: Agriculture Street Landfill, Southern Shipbuilding, Madison Creosote Works, Bayou Bonfouca, and Delatte Metals...

More here

Lake Ponchartrain Bacteria

In response to public concern for the water quality of Lake Pontchartrain following Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is conducting intensive studies of water, sediment, and seafood quality of Lake Pontchartrain. Findings released today suggest that, despite expectations that hurricane-related flooding in New Orleans could cause uniformly high concentrations of fecal bacteria in Lake Pontchartrain, water samples from sites in and around the lake commonly were within limits acceptable for recreational waters...


Bacteria Results

National Research Council plan for wetlands

Most of the individual projects in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Louisiana Coastal Area Study (LCA) proposal to reduce losses of coastal wetlands in Louisiana are scientifically sound, but taken together they do not represent the type of integrated, large-scale effort needed for such a massive undertaking, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. The National Research Council is a private, nonprofit institution that provides science and technology advice under a congressional charter...

Coastal Plan

Wetland loss due to hurricanes

The USGS published a preliminary report on wetland loss in Louisiana due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Read the report

One Million Pounds of Hazardous Waste

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that an estimated one million pounds of household hazardous waste has been collected in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Household hazardous waste typically consists of cleaning products found in most homes as well as lawn and garden products, pesticides and herbicides, fuels and paints as well as batteries found in most garages...

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