Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, devastating much of the north central Gulf Coast. America was glued to the television, watching the devastation pan out as the news coverage focused on the flooding in New Orleans and the thousands of residents still stranded in the area. Dramatic rescue scenes were a daily occurrence during the days following Katrina. American citizens donated millions of dollars to help aid the victims of Katrina. Many foreign countries were interested and very generous with supporting the crisis at hand. Residents were evacuated, flood waters receded, the city reopened and New Orleans residents slowly returned to a city that was unrecognizable. Two years have passed since Hurricane Katrina and there has been much rebuilding in many parts of the city, like the French Quarter and Garden District. These areas are popular with the tourists and it was important to get those neighborhoods up and running as quickly as possible.
The problem is not the individuals returning to the city to rebuild the lives Katrina uprooted. Rather, the problem is if the city of New Orleans is rebuilding and improving, how are residents deciding to move away after participating in the rebuilding effort? As of August 2007, the New Orleans population was only 67% of the population before Katrina. This number is encouraging; however, the population will not increase with any intensity if residents continue to leave the city. How do these former New Orleans residents feel about their decision to leave the city? Research has focused on New Orleans residents who were displaced by Katrina and have not returned to the city. Residents who lived in the city after Katrina and later decided to move can provide a different perspective on the problems that the city is currently facing.
Much of the research on New Orleans has focused on the lower income populations because they were some of the most affected victims of this engineering failure. The individuals who returned to New Orleans after Katrina had financial means and housing. They lived in the city during the beginning stages of the rebuilding process and put forth major effort in cleaning up the city. They worked in the city and supported the economy through taxes, local spending, etc. For most of these residents, the living conditions were comfortable despite the devastation. So, it is important to look at how these residents, who had better living conditions than most, decided to move away from a city they love. Also, it is important to understand how living in a city like New Orleans, with its unique cultural identity, changed these individuals and how this change affects the view of his or her current living situation. By examining these circumstances, insight can be gained about the next phase of rebuilding New Orleans.
According to Hausman and Reed (1991), crisis is defined as a time-limited state in which an individual faces a novel, problematic situation in which his usual coping skills are ineffective. In a crisis individuals may experience anxiety, confusion, and feelings of helplessness: their sense of well-being is disrupted. Hurricane Katrina was a crisis of great magnitude and every survivor has experienced some or all of these feelings about what he or she lived through. The authors go on to argue that relocation, moving to another location, takes a toll on individuals. This relocation can be a stressful event and Hausman and Reed define relocation as a traumatic or crisis event. If Hausman and Reed’s claims are true, these former New Orleans residents have now experienced two major crises in a span of two years and would have experienced emotions accordingly.
Flaherty (2005) describes New Orleans as a unique culture, one that is resilient and with a history of community and resistance. It is a city of extended families and social networks filling in the gaps left by city, state and federal governments that have abdicated their responsibility for the public welfare. Assistance programs that were established to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina received millions of dollars in donations during the crisis, yet this funding was not being seen by the Gulf Coast residents because much of the funding has been tied up in bureaucratic red tape. According to Rathke (2005), 50,000 jobs had been lost in New Orleans due to the economic situation after Hurricane Katrina. Rents feel like they have doubled in some areas. $800 is the new $400. $1000 is the new $400. Scarcity of supply commands a price.
New Orleans is a culture of dual existence. This dual existence highlights the struggle against institutionalized racism, where Caucasian upper class benefit and middle and lower income classes continue to suffer. Jervis (2007) describes one individual’s interpretation of the government after Katrina: “If disaster strikes another city, the best thing they could do is realize that the government will not do anything for you. We are in this for ourselves.” Because there was governmental mismanagement on every level, residents of New Orleans are wary about the government and the future that lies ahead. Toledano (2007) describes the history of New Orleans culture and politics with its roots deeply planted in European class hierarchy. In the past, New Orleans Society and Culture have excluded Jews, Italians, Latin Americans, Asians, women, blacks, and newcomers to the city. Toledano argues that while this belief system of exclusion lasted until the 1970s, these attitudes still linger on. If anything, this racism has grown since Hurricane Katrina, due to the media’s coverage on looting by African Americans during the storm. Combined with increases in crime and decreases in the police force, New Orleans has turned into a very dangerous city in which to live.
It is important to recognize that a temporary or permanent loss of culture can create an identity crisis for an individual (Dugan, 2007). It can be argued that individuals who move away from the area after helping with the rebuilding process have experienced a loss of culture and this loss is part of the motivation to move on. According to one New Orleans resident,
“The hardest part for me is realizing that New Orleans is never going to be the same. I knew a month ago that it was going to be gone. The racial composition has changed. It saddens me. I loved the diversity. Now it’s mostly white and some Mexicans. The city is what it is because of the people, and I worry about what it’s going to be in the future” (Davis and Land, 2007).
The fiber that makes up the city of New Orleans has permanently changed because of Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of Hispanic families have moved to the city looking for work in the aftermath of the storm. This Hispanic culture was not prominent in New Orleans prior to Katrina. Because a large portion of the African American community was evacuated and has not returned, the face of the city looks completely different.
Residents want a voice in the rebuilding process. They feel that communities, the people, have been left out of the rebuilding process for New Orleans (Harris, 2005). Plans for rebuilding the city describe a smaller but carefully planned city with revitalized older neighborhoods and restored portions of badly flooded neighborhoods selected by residents (Kates, Colten, Laska, and Leatherman, 2006). If this plan is followed, there is a fear that the city will turn into a Disneyland version of itself. Harris (2005) argues that you will lose your tourism industry if you turn it into something that you can find anywhere else because it was the whole mystique of New Orleans that made it a tourist destination. Bottom line, New Orleans is not the same city it was before Hurricane Katrina. The cultural makeup of the city has changed. The city is still mired in governmental mistakes, the economy is stretched and residents are frustrated with the progress that is being made to rebuild the Big Easy. These factors have taken a toll on many New Orleans residents and can be attributed to how more and more residents are deciding to leave.
Methodology
Participants
Five former New Orleans residents (3 women, 2 men, mean age = 33 years) volunteered to be interviewed. All participants lived in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina and returned after the storm to help rebuild. Participants were identified through association with the researcher and associations within social circles.
Materials
Participants were asked a series of questions about New Orleans culture and how he or she decided to move away from New Orleans. Participants were also questioned about how his or her personal perspectives have changed since living in New Orleans and how these changes affect the former residents’ viewpoint on current living situations.
Design and Procedure
Participants were asked semi-structured questions to guide the conversation. A combination of qualitative methods was used to approach the collected data. This research serves as part oral history, part case study and part textual analysis. Two interviews were conducted in person and three interviews were conducted over the phone due to location. All interviews were recorded with a Sony Clear Voice tape recorder. Data was transcribed and has been triangulated by comparison of answers and themes to responses have been interpreted.
Results
The first theme that emerged from the interviews was the dismal state the city has been in since Hurricane Katrina. Depression and hopelessness were described in how participants decided to move away from New Orleans.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It’s just gotten harder and harder to live there. There is a feel in the city right now of pure hopelessness. It is depression. People are not able to come back—even to the land that their house was on before. There is an overriding feeling of depression in the city and I think for me that was a large part of it. Two years in that state is tough and it was time for a change.
Female A, 37
New York City, NY
My marriage ended—that is kind of a casualty of Katrina too. You saw a lot of relationships really, really suffer and really it was more because it just made more sense for me financially for me to go up and be with my family. It was hard to live in the city anyway and the housing was very limited and jobs were very limited. And because I was suddenly single I really couldn’t stay but I probably would have wanted to.
Participants described a range of feelings about moving away from New Orleans. These feelings ranged from feeling like they had abandoned the city to feeling healthier now that they have moved.
Male B, 25
Amarillo, TX
I feel like I abandoned the city because there are not enough good people in the city. They need good people there. Moving away was sad because it was home.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
I feel better. I feel healthier, for sure. I feel some parts sad and I miss certain elements about it but as far as being immersed in it daily, I definitely think I can breathe clean air in a way here. It just feels healthier.
Participants were asked to describe his or her feelings about New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and after Katrina. Every respondent described his or her love of the city prior to Hurricane Katrina with great affection. Returning to the city after the storm, respondents describe feeling sad and shocked as well as a renewed sense of community and belongingness.
Female C, 39
Amarillo, TX
It was just a mess. Everyone expected it to be a mess to an extent and you don’t go through something like that and not have it just really rip things up. In some ways, you saw some pretty quick improvements. Of course, in the tourist areas, the French Quarter was cleaned up really quickly because that’s where that money is. It’s basis of the New Orleans economy. But in other areas, the 9th ward, well if the television cameras were on and celebrities were in town things were getting done but then it started to feel like people were forgetting. I stayed for almost 2 years after Katrina and people were still in FEMA trailers and that is just horrible. The crime rate has just spiraled out of control there are not enough police to take care of it. Some places got thrown to the dogs because you have to protect the people somehow.
Female A, 37
New York, NY
I really kind of related it to a relative who had a horrible accident. It’s really painful to see someone you love reduced to the state. It made me sick to see what this city had become. I wanted to help the recovery but it was just a very, very sad place to live. Everyone was struggling, everyone had a story, and everyone had loss. It was just a sad depressing place to be most of the time.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
I was worried and scared but I was also in a place where I was going to do anything to rebuild that city. If anything it made me feel more of a part of that city than I already did. I had hope. There were things that were wrong originally but getting it back to where it was before the storm was so important.
Participants were asked how they feel about New Orleans after moving away and having some perspective on the situation. Participants express anger and a sense of wariness toward the city.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
I still love certain aspects of it. I feel like it is a place I would go back to…perhaps to live, but at least to visit. I just feel wary of it where the city is at. It feels like something that is still very wounded. It’s still alive and it’s going to be ok but it is sick right now.
Male B, 25
Amarillo, TX
I don’t know, it’s a struggle. It’s struggling over there its still in bad shape. The government hasn’t done anything for it like they were supposed to even though the Katrina floods could happen again because the government hasn’t helped. We were only able to move back because we didn’t live in the city and the city has all these codes to rebuild. We didn’t need any codes…Slidell generally got the help first because they had good people in power that pressed for it and really let the government have it to get the help.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It has given me perspective on why the city was the way it was after the storm. It doesn’t make me miss the city any more and I find myself getting even angrier about the politics that are still going on. I still feel very strongly about that city, I still love that city. I miss it.
Because New Orleans has such a diverse culture and is known for being such an eclectic, intoxicating city, participants were asked how living in New Orleans had changed them and how these changes affected his or her perspective on current living situations. Participants describe how the cultural diversity intensified their passion for life. Participants go on to describe their current living situations as boring and safe but feeling grateful for what they now have.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
It has changed me as a person in many ways. It’s changed the way I understand economic circumstances and racial circumstances and what that can do to a person as they grow up. People just seem freer there to be themselves in certain ways. Maybe they didn’t have the freedom to develop their potential but did develop it within the limits they had to exist in. It’s like the jazz music that was all around. It just kind of poured out. I learned to really appreciate the order of falling apart, the crumbling of life and the beauty of it.
Female C, 39
Amarillo, TX
Oh absolutely. You can’t be somewhere like that and not change. You know Amarillo is a great city but diversity is not the first word I would use to describe this area. And New Orleans is very diverse. It is such a melting pot of cultures. You have the African American culture, the French culture. The difference between the haves and have not’s is so blaringly obvious there, so you just get this whole…it’s just a different place, it’s just a whole different world. It just made me…it made me more fun. I want to live a little more, be a little freer. I think it made me more spiritual, everything is old there and you just feel the essence of everything that has been there before and I think it just really made me think about my life and people who came before me and how they changed everything before me. I would love to go back there because it became home and I never thought any other place would be home but Amarillo, but it definitely is home.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It makes me incredibly grateful for what I have at this point. In getting the job out here, getting paid so much more money for the same job I was doing there and really not as much work, it makes me incredibly thankful for what I have. It makes me question, why didn’t I change this before? Being out of all those things that you love about the city takes away some of the reason why it’s ok you weren’t getting paid as much. It’s made me really thankful for what it is and taking what I have for what it’s worth.
Finally, participants were asked to sum up in one word his or her feelings about New Orleans and why they decided to move away from the city they adore. The five responses were FEAR, REGRET, HOPE, LOSS, and HEAVY. Fear about living in a city that was no longer (if ever) safe; regret for moving away and letting New Orleans down; hopelessness for the city that was devastated as well as hope for what the future might bring; loss of identity due to the cultural changes as well as a loss of a sense of purpose; and finally emotional heaviness and the depression that creeps in like a fog after a large scale crisis like Hurricane Katrina.
Discussion
The interview data serves as an oral history for five former New Orleans residents and offers significant evidence that the culture in the city of New Orleans has indeed changed since Hurricane Katrina. For these former residents, cultural changes and financial hardships played a role in deciding to move away from the Big Easy. It is difficult to stay the course and fight the good fight if you don’t have your protectors backing you. The protectors in this situation are the government and the levee systems surrounding New Orleans. The government in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans is known for its slow moving, corrupt behavior. Because funding for the rebuilding is not coming in, progress had become stagnant. With a decreased police force and a levee system that is still not back to the protection level it was at before Katrina, New Orleans is no longer feels safe.
When starting this research, I had expected to not only find out how these residents decided to leave the city and the cultural effects that New Orleans had on them personally, but to find the key to keeping more residents from moving away from the city. Since Katrina, the city has morphed from an easy going, cultural melting pot into a smaller, heavier, tarnished version of itself. It is easy to understand how these residents, under the stress of living in a city they no longer recognized, decided to move away and start over. I did not find the key to keeping more residents from moving away but I might have found the key to healing New Orleans. That key is time—time to heal, time to grow; time to let the new flavors of the city merry together, just like a pot of gumbo.
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