Posted on 09/03/2005 3:17:04 PM PDT by Translates
Now that thousands of temporarily homeless evacuees from New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas are finding shelter what does the future hold for them as well as for the communities who are sheltering them?
In Houston, Texas and in other mass shelters set up throughout the South nation to house the recently homeless, weary evacuees will at last have a safe, clean place on which to lay their heads. As row upon row of cots are set up for the masses, beds so close that their edges touch, what will be the longterm effects of this situation on those being sheltered as well as those communities coping with incredible numbers of strangers suddenly dependent upon them?
As televised by the media most shelters appear well-organized. At the Astrodome officials seem to have covered every basic need: Bath facilities, plenty of water, three meals a day. There are telephones, adequate space, at least in the Astrodome, for walking and socializing. In attendance are nurses, doctors, clerics, FEMA reps, couselors, and hundreds of service personnel feeding and clothing the mass of humanity.
For the time being the situation looks pretty good, but what of the weeks and months to come? What happens when the new wears off, when the cramped sleeping quarters and hard cots become unbearable along with the total lack of privacy? There are foods that some might not like, constant noise, cultural and religious differences, hygience incompatibilites, knees and elbows in backs and faces from the narrow cots beside them, and perhaps a growing reality of uncertain futures. What happens when someone usurps the tiny space of another or when inconsiderate insomniacs talk too loudly and disturb those trying to sleep? What of the many children running and screaming, as children will, disturbing those who may be grieving the loss of their own children or family members?
For those who have been in the welfare system for years, or who may not have held jobs in years, what is to become of them? Will they simply enter into the welfare system of the area where sheltered, or will they be reevaluated and many told to go find jobs? What of those with specific medical problems, where will they go if a shelter cannot meet their special needs? For those who may need to return to work to pay bills, what can they do if their jobs and the places they worked no longer exist? Can sheltering cities provide that many jobs without taking jobs from local residents?
Finally, how will the citizens of Houston and other sheltering cities feel months from now when evacuees are still there and their population has enlarged by 10,000 to 20,000? How will this affect the local job markets, local transit systems, social services, utilities, schools and hospitals?
These are questions that must be addressed in the next few weeks and months. It will be many months or even a year or longer before New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities become habitable again. Meanwhile, can host communities support that many people for that long?
What will the immediate and longterm effects of this catastrophe to the United States in general, and the Southern coastal regions in particular?
Some thoughts for the good of the order:
1. Refugees will be eligible for workers unemployment insurance. (I don't know how easy it will be to determine who had jobs and where, but the labor secretary said that if the workplace is out of commission, then the workers can draw unemployment.
2. Refugees will be compensated for lost property. (Again, I believe it will be difficult to prove who lost property and who is just applying to see what the government will do.) The government held flood insurance the these people.
3. There will be a surge in jobs and job offers. There is a huge clean up to do. Alabama Gulf Shores is not done cleaning up from Ivan last year. Many home owners will likely head back to their hometown to put in claims for # 2 and will not be a long term burden on the host state.
4. Some may stay, but people move in and out of states all the time. States can handle this.
5. The states who offered aid will probably receive large amounts of federal aid for their troubles. In fact, LA will probably soon complaign about aid going the TX and will someday regret that they were not able to house their evacuees at home.
6. Finally, people will leave the refugee sites of their own accord. I was in one once, it lost its appeal right away. Most people have family and friends who will support them once they ged cleaned up and can make arrangements. Living in a refugee center will soon be down to the truely homeless for whom the center will not seem so bad as being on the street.
Texas will have more welfare recipients. The cities will have to cough up more tax money to build more low income housing. School taxes will go up.
"3. There will be a surge in jobs and job offers."
For illegal Mexican immigrants who will just do the jobs Blacks won't???
There was another post about Mexicans in NO. It suggested there were maybe 40K who would be exempt from prosecution (I suppose that means deportation in this case) because of a special deal between the state department and the Mexican government. The Mexican government wanted to make certain that they were not left in the lurch because of their illegal status.
As far as a lot of the clean up jobs, I believe the blacks will pitch in and do their part, in Alabama after Ivan they did. Besides, laziness is not a racial characterist. (Maybe wanting things without paying the dues in terms of effort is, but what do I know.)
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