Katrina's victims poorer than US average

[JoFerret]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5255600,00.html

People living in the path of Hurricane Katrina's worst devastation were twice as likely as most Americans to be poor and without a car - factors that may help explain why so many failed to evacuate as the storm approached.
....
-Nearly 25 percent of those living in the hardest-hit areas were below the poverty line, about double the national average. About 4.5 percent in the disaster area received public assistance; nationwide, the number was about 3.5 percent.
....

-One in 200 American households doesn't have adequate plumbing. One in 100 households in the most affected areas didn't have decent plumbing, which, according to the Census, includes running hot and cold water, a shower or bath and an indoor toilet.

-Nationwide, about 7 percent of households with children are headed by a single mother. In the three dozen neighborhoods, 12 percent were single-mother households.

....

``There's not a lot of interest in this issue, except when there's something dramatic,'' said Carter, the South Carolina historian. ``By and large, the poor are simply out of sight, out of mind.''

[acmavm]

1. I frigging cannot believe that this thread did not get one single post.

People were on this board before the hurricane squawking and snarfing that the only people left in NO were one's that chose to stay. There's one poster here in particular who was big on that one. And then, when faced with irrefutable proof that they (those that said it was people who were trying to protect their 'goods' against looters) were WRONG, not one response. Not one.

[JoFerret]

7. "we are not bums"

``Let them know we're not bums. We have houses. Our houses were destroyed. We have jobs. It's not our fault that we didn't have cars to leave,'' Shatonia Thomas, 27, said as she walked near New Orleans' convention center five days after the storm, still trapped in the destruction with her children, ages 6 and 9.

Money and transportation - two keys to surviving a natural disaster - were inaccessible for many who got left behind in the Gulf region's worst squalor.

``It's a different equation for poor people,'' explained Dan Carter, a University of South Carolina historian. ``There's a certain ease of transportation and funds that the middle class in this country takes for granted.''

That's from the same article.
To be fair though - I think people already know that basic demographic.

[jus_the_facts]

2. no shit

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=3956844

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=3954289

[NorthernSpy]

3. I get the sense that some libertarian-types are glad they're dead

Even a few people here at DU, though they don't say it in so many words.

Somebody's bound to invoke those nasty "Darwin Awards" eventually.

[daleo]

4. It has to be repeated, not everybody owns a car (or can drive)

"The disparities were even more glaring in large, urban areas. One of the worst-hit neighborhoods in the heart of New Orleans, for example, had a median household income of less than $7,500. Nearly three of every four residents fell below the poverty line, and barely 1 in 3 people had a car."

There are lots of reasons that people don't own a car - money primarily, but it can also be health related, or a personal environmental statement. In major cities a car can be more trouble than it is worth (parking costs, etc.), especially if there is good public transit.

I live close enough to my job that I can walk, and therefore I don't have a car. If a disaster of this scale hit my city, I don't know what I would do even though money isn't an issue. The government (wherever you happen to live) has to make provision for the simple fact that not everyone has a car, when emergencies strike.

[UpInArms]

5. We, as a people, will be judged on how we treat the least

among us.

:cry:

[mzteris]

6. Hastert thinks they're expendable

They probably vote Dem, you know.

[shanti]

8. also

for the people who were on some sort of aid/assistance, it was RIGHT before the first of the month - payday - so they had very little anyway. they COULDN'T leave.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

9. And what will happen now

That their livelihoods no longer exist, but there are still bills to be paid, families to feed.

:cry:

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. So where were the buses?

Homeland Security should have requesitioned all coaches and buses and gotten those people the hell out of there. It's not like they didn't know Katrina was coming.

[Giant Robot]

11. Exactly!

This had tragedy written all over it before Katrina made landfall.

[paul_fromatlanta]

12. Flood victims are usually more

Flood victims are usually more poor than average because low lying land is usually cheaper.

[Lisa]

13. welcome to DU, Paul

Good point. And low-cost housing is often vulnerable in terms of design too (e.g. tornado damage in trailer parks).

[progressivebydesign]

14. I hope this will finally show the world the TRUE FACE of poverty.

Could this tragedy be finally a way to pull the clueless away from their television shows to finally SEE what is happening in their own country? I mean.. if Paris Hilton isn't doing a reality show in a homeless shelter, then how the fuck would most of them KNOW this is going on?

[Silverhair]

15. News Flash - Water is wet.

Of course they are poorer. Those with more income had cars and left, leaving the poorer people behind.