Although they were both carried by many news outlets, they were taken by two different photographers and came from two different services, Associated Press ( AP) and Getty Images via Agence France-Presse ( AFP). It's difficult to draw any substantiated conclusions from these photographs' captions. Were these captions evidence of a subtle (or overt) racial prejudice in the news media? Many viewers noticed the seeming disparity of the darker-skinned subject's being described in the accompanying caption as "looting a grocery store," while the lighter-skinned subjects were described as "finding bread and soda from a local grocery store": The onslaught of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast in late August 2005 brought the phenomenon of looting into the national spotlight once again, including the two news service photographs shown above, both of which were carried by Yahoo! News and other Internet news outlets and showed persons wading through chest-deep water in the New Orleans area with supplies taken from grocery stores. People who are caught unprepared (or remain in the disaster area for other reasons) often have to shift into survival mode and take whatever supplies they can get wherever they can find them, and there are always a few who will take advantage of confusion and chaos to make off with other people's property for their own enrichment. Many property owners have to evacuate their homes and businesses ahead of the coming disaster (or flee the area in its aftermath) without leaving behind anyone to protect their property, and law enforcement and other emergency services are generally so overwhelmed dealing with life-and-death issues that they can't spare the manpower to protect private property. She discovers 30 of the trailers registered unsafe levels and prompts the CDC and FEMA to take action.Looting is an unfortunate and largely inevitable result of large-scale disasters. After complaints of residents waking up with nosebleeds, hacking coughs and headaches in late 2005 and early 2006, journalist and activist Becky Gillette tests 32 FEMA-issued emergency trailers for formaldehyde. Thousands of people living in FEMA-provided trailers are asked to evacuate because of unhealthy levels of the chemical formaldehyde in the units, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement. They need 145 million cubic yards and have acquired 20 million in the two years since the storm. The Army Corps of Engineers remains short of clay to rebuild the levees. None of the 115 critical priorities identified by city officials has been completed - the New Orleans police superintendent and most of the city's firefighters work out of trailers. Rebuilding the city's houses and infrastructure bounces between privately funded efforts by communities and slow federal aid two years after the hurricane. The city's economy shows signs of recovery: Revenue from sales tax sits at 84% of pre-Katrina levels. Delays in federal funding keep basic services limited, including for schools, child care and city buses.
This sets a new standard for others who have filed against insurance companies in the state for damage not paid for in Katrina's aftermath.Ībout 66% of the pre-Katrina population has returned to New Orleans. The White House stops its staff from answering questions or handing over documents to Senate and House investigations into the Katrina response.Ī federal judge awards a Louisiana man $2.8 million in a lawsuit against insurance company Allstate. The funds will go to schools, levee protection in New Orleans and homeowners who won't receive flood insurance money. Congress agrees to send $29 billion in additional aid for Katrina victims.
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