Hurricane Housing: Rita Amnesia

Today marks the one-year anniversary of "the forgotten hurricane," one which wreaked nearly as much damage as her big sister Katrina, and further crippled the Gulf Coast and much of Texas economically and socially.

Much like Katrina, the post-Rita cleanup is proceeding faster in some places than others, and there's a great amount of politics and grandstanding involved in the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Many people are understandably angry over what they see as "Rita amnesia," that the damage and destruction from Rita have been overlooked in the political and media focus on Katrina.

There is a lot of progress in the recovery, but it's slow and maddening. To me, it doesn't matter which hurricane did what to who. These people are Americans, and it's a crime that our fellow Americans are still suffering under the yoke of the damage wrought a year ago. We should--we must--do better. These people deserve more than to be cast aside as forgotten, and help for them is needed, no matter if it's Katrina or Rita on the check:

Overall, Boustany said, the recovery is proceeding well, and local leadership and planning have played a key role in that progress. He said he believes people need to continue to fight “Rita amnesia” as recovery continues.

“The further you get from an event, the more people tend to forget about what happened,” Boustany said.

Indeed.

Posted at September 24, 2006 08:27 PM

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Today marks the one-year anniversary of "the forgotten hurricane," one which wreaked nearly as much damage as her big sister Katrina, and further crippled the Gulf Coast and much of Texas economically and socially. Much like Katrina, the post-Rita cleanup is proceeding faster in some places than others, and there's a great amount of politics and grandstanding involved in the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Many people are understandably angry over what they see as "Rita amnesia," that the damage and destruction from Rita have been overlooked in the political and media focus on Katrina. There is a lot of progress in the recovery, but it's slow and maddening. To me, it doesn't matter which hurricane did what to who. These people are Americans, and it's a crime that our fellow Americans are still suffering under the yoke of the damage wrought a year ago. We should--we must--do better. These people deserve more than to be cast aside as forgotten, and help for them is needed, no matter if it's Katrina or Rita on the check: Overall, Boustany said, the recovery is proceeding well, and local leadership and planning have played a key role in that progress. He said he believes people need to continue to fight “Rita amnesia” as recovery continues. “The further you get from an event, the more people tend to forget about what happened,” Boustany said. Indeed.