Katrina update...

Several days ago I promised to publish the draft of an article that I've written on the trip I made Thanksgiving Weekend to New Orleans. Since I've already submitted a copy of this article to a newspaper publisher I'll hold off on publishing the material here.

Let me summarize the three main things I came away with as a result of the visit to the the Big Easy:

1. New Orleans is 'a tale of two cities' - one area along the crescent of the River (French Quarter, Downtown business district, Garden District) that has little damage and the rest of the city (80%) that was flooded. It is difficult to communicate the scope of the damage.
2. The situation calls for a federally-funded "Marshall Plan" type effort to rebuild the city
3. There is growing fear in New Orleans that this area, after experiencing the worst natural disaster in American history, will be forsaken by the Administration. There is talk of a March on Washington.

Post your comments.

Update:

Bloomberg.com has this story about the growing disinterest by the Bush Administration in the Katrina disaster...and the recovery.