In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into south Louisiana, causing massive levee failures and devastating flooding. A second major storm, Hurricane Rita, struck the Gulf Coast only three weeks later, resulting in even more flooding and destruction throughout south Louisiana.
Katrina and Rita were two of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, leaving a path of destruction as large as the country of Great Britain. Entire communities were wiped out, countless businesses closed down, and hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted when the floodwaters severely damaged or completely destroyed their homes. Over 1500 people lost their lives.
Since the storms, the people of south Louisiana have once again shown their incredible resiliency and strength of spirit. They have been determined to rebuild their communities and way of life that were almost lost to the storms. Average people have stepped up and become leaders, persevering despite the never-ending obstacles, frustrating bureaucratic red tape , and sheer magnitude of the rebuilding task they face.
I share their determination to rebuild our south Louisiana communities stronger and better than before. I have worked with the entire Louisiana delegation in Congress to bring billions of recovery dollars to south Louisiana to help rebuild homes, schools, small businesses, healthcare services, law enforcement , and other public infrastructure.
We must also protect this culturally and economically important part of America from future storms. I have fought for more federal funding for comprehensive hurricane protection projects, such as Morganza-to-the-Gulf and the levee systems in lower Plaquemines Parish and south Lafourche Parish. Thousands of people in these fishing and energy-producing communities still have little or no hurricane protection. They are like sitting ducks in the path of the next Katrina or Rita, and I will not rest until they have the hurricane protection they need and deserve. Louisiana is America’s Energy Coast, and we can’t afford not to protect it.
To keep our hurricane recovery a national priority, for the past three years I have partnered with House leadership to bring a Congressional delegation to the Gulf Coast (2008, 2007, 2006). Every summer since the storms, 20-25 members of Congress – including the top three leaders in the House – travel to south Louisiana for several days to view the progress that has been made and learn how Congress can better help the region fully recover. During the visit, these Representatives from states across the country tour our levee projects, schools, sheriff’s offices, health care clinics, and the homes of people still rebuilding.
During this visit, the members of Congress have conversations with both local leaders and average Louisianians working to rebuild their communities – discussions that are critical to maintaining national support for our recovery. I have said many times, people can’t comprehend how widespread the destruction was, or how great the task of rebuilding still is, unless they see it for themselves. That goes for our nation’s elected leaders as well, and I will continue urging other members of Congress to visit south Louisiana as long as we still have recovery or hurricane protection needs.
As we build a better future for south Louisiana, we must remember the lessons so painfully learned from Katrina and Rita. To that effort, in Congress I have sponsored a number of reform bills since the storm to try to fix the flaws in our government’s disaster response and relief system. If we learn from the past, future disaster survivors won’t experience the same uncertainties and frustrations that we have faced.
Hurricane recovery is as much a priority today as it was three years ago. As we move forward from this challenging time, I will keep fighting for greater federal investments in the coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects that are crucial to protecting our citizens, communities, and way of life. A bright future for south Louisiana will depend on the positive actions we take today.
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