Disaster relief: A call to action

From the African American Coalition Disaster Relief

FACTS
On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina landed near Buras, Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds. Soon thereafter, Gulfport, Mississippi took a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, and much of Gulfport was flooded or destroyed, with a storm surge exceeding 20 feet (6.1 m) in some sections. Later that evening, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were declared Federal Disaster Areas. On August 30, 2005, the impact of Hurricane Katrina caused breaches in three sections of the New Orleans levee system on the Lake Ponchatrain side of the city. For the next couple of days, heavy flooding over a sustained period placed an estimated 80% of New Orleans under water; leaving citizens trapped in a city without power, sewage and in many cases without food and water.

As of September 14, 2005, the death toll stood at over 700 people with numbers climbing daily as dedicated search and recovery teams discover new casualties. In addition to the casualties:
More than 100,000 American citizens remain in shelters, temporary housing, and have been displaced. These citizens are homeless and disconnected from their families;
1,800 children remain separated from their parents while thousands are in a perpetual state of upheaval and relocation;
An estimated 372,000 students have been displaced;
Over 50% of those impacted by Hurricane Katrina were African American.
Families units have been divided up in desperate attempts to provide housing in places other than the Astrodome and the convention centers.

CALL TO ACTION
On September 14, 2005, a coalition of African American leadership organizations convened at Howard University in Washington D.C. to address present concerns regarding the challenges confronting America caused and revealed by Hurricane Katrina.

The coalition stipulates that there are major questions and concerns regarding the federal response time, the timeliness of the state’s National Guard deployment, and the city’s evacuation process, however the coalition reserves the right to address these issues through a more thorough investigative process than the current challenges and needs permit. This call to action effort is centered around the need to address the more immediate concerns expressed to coalition members upon several visits with those most affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster. In maintaining our commitment to these survivors, the coalition has outlined the following action steps and recommendations and request that the President as well as federal, state, and local agencies immediately respond to the following eight critical areas of concern:

1. Ensuring affected families' immediate and long-term right of return to Gulf Coast region

Provide temporary housing at all assets available to federal government, including currently closed military bases in Gulf Coast region.
Provide economic incentives for families to return to Gulf Coast region.

2. Rebuilding and reconnecting families and children

Establish family reconstruction fund (estimated $100 billion for providing unemployment assistance, job training, school placement, assistance reuniting families, etc).

3. Ensuring that local residents have first choice at reconstruction jobs and contracts

Establish Gulf Coast region reconstruction fund (rebuilding homes, businesses, etc.
Establish timeline to rebuild colleges and universities, including HBCUs (Xavier University, Dillard University, Southern University in New Orleans, Jackson State University).
Set 50% residency target goal for all contracts.
Set 40% minority vendor target for all reconstruction.
Place moratorium on all contracts until civil rights provisions can be reinstituted (Davis-Bacon Requirements).

4. Providing physical and mental health assistance

Order the admittance of minority community-based counselors in facilities with evacuees nationwide.
Provide health benefits to all affected citizens for a period no less than 24 months.

5. Providing legal, economic and voting protections

Direct Justice Department to immediately review individual cases of arrested and detained individuals.
Ensure evacuees immediate ability to vote in state and local elections, including February 2006 election.
Ensure home owners the right of first refusal to reclaim property.
Freeze all foreclosure proceedings against property in affected areas for a minimum of 12 months.
Build in legal protections against predatory lenders.
Institute a prohibition of collections and deficiency judgments on real and personal properties.
Institute a prohibition on negative credit reporting or the omission of negative events from credit scores when the incidents were a result of Katrina.
Institute a voluntary waiver of late fees or interest on loans made to people in Katrina affected areas, for a period of at least three months.

6. Monitoring FEMA, American Red Cross, and Salvation Army distribution of resources.

Establish a diverse commission to monitor the equitable distribution of relief resources provided by FEMA, American Red Cross, and Salvation Army as well as the equitable reconstruction of the affected Gulf Coast areas.

7. Securing the environment for future generations

Develop action plan to secure wetlands in coastal areas of U.S. Stop rollback/waivers of environmental laws.

8. Develop comprehensive strategy to address poverty crisis in America