Life Imitates Art

For disaster-fatigued residents of the Gulf Coast, it must be a struggle to move forward with their lives as a painful symbol of the past has returned: the FEMA trailers. The Federal Emergency Management Agency had provided close to $3 billion worth of mobile home trailers intended to be used for temporary housing for Louisiana residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Many occupants of those trailers had developed respiratory ailments, which was subsequently attributed to high levels of formaldehyde resulting from the cheap wood and poor ventilation in the units. The government decided to ban the use of trailers for long-term housing.

But the trailers are re-appearing in the Gulf Coast to provide temporary housing for workers involved in the clean up of the oil spill. Because of the $130 million annual cost to store and maintain the trailers, the government elected to sell them in public auctions. Members of Congress had expressed concerns that the trailers would be re-purposed for long-term housing, which fears appear to have been realized. Purchasers of the trailers may not be aware of the health risks associated with the formaldehyde in the trailers or of the ban on their use for long-term housing purposes. But really, what other purpose would the trailers serve if not housing, as they were built with lavatories and kitchenettes? We are long past the time to demand a comprehensive overhaul and accountability from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “FEMA Trailers – the Sequel” is simply inexcusable.

This photograph is of original art made by New Orleans artist Karen Niklaus. I enjoy art that expresses powerful messages about politics and social change and this piece resonated with me.

Endangered Oysters

June 1 would have begun the shrimp catching season in the Gulf Coast. While the season lasts only 90 days, during that period Gulf Coast fishing enterprises earn their entire year’s income, often working 18 – 20 hour days in a grueling business. But the Deepwater oil spill ended the shrimp season before it began, forcing many businesses, such as Camardelle’s Seafood, a bait shop and convenience store operating in Louisiana, to close. The proprietor put a sign on her door stating that BP closed her business. She reported to the news media that her utilities are being shut off and she can’t pay her rent. The oil spill has destroyed more in the Gulf Coast than hurricanes of past years did. Small businesses in Louisiana’s fishing industry report that BP’s compensation for their losses doesn’t even come close to making them whole.

One community isn’t accepting the losses without a fight. A group of Vietnamese-American fishermen have filed a class action suit against BP seeking compensation for their losses. The case is to be heard by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes who, according to the Miami Herald, has ties to the oil industry. Specifically, the Herald reports that the judge was compensated for traveling around the world to present ethics lectures to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, a professional association that works with oil companies, including BP. The company has requested that Judge Hughes hear all of the cases filed against it, presumably because the judge has positive relations with the oil industry. This action suggests a long march to justice.

But the Vietnamese-American community has fought such battles before. Case in point: in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, residents of Versailles, a community on the edge of New Orleans, used the disaster as a catalyst for change. Versailles is the home of the densest community of ethnic Vietnamese outside of Viet Nam. Hurricane Katrina destroyed what they had spent years building since arriving in New Orleans as refugees. Because of their extraordinary work ethic, they rebuilt what nature had destroyed – only to face another threat in the form of a toxic landfill the government planned to build in their neighborhood. The documentary film “A Village Called Versailles” chronicles the experiences of the Vietnamese-American community in New Orleans. It airs on public broadcasting stations this month. I watched it twice and, in light of the oil spill disaster, the timing of the broadcast makes the subject particularly poignant.

The image I have chosen to accompany this blog posting is that of a piece of jewelry from the Gulf Coast collection by Mignon Faget. Mignon Faget is one of my favorite jewelry lines and I always make it a point to visit her shop when I am in New Orleans. She also has a website and catalog for online sales. She writes, “it is a heartbreaking statement to make with jewelry originally designed to celebrate the abundant gifts of our coast. The reality: we need to make people aware of this disaster and the long-term effects it will have on this region. We all need to do what we can.” Mignon Faget is donating 10% of all sales of this jewelry line to the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

Can We Afford It?

Today marks the beginning of the 2009 hurricane season and with it, heightened anxiety among Gulf Coast residents.  We are particularly vulnerable as the U.S. Census Bureau reports that 12% of the population, close to 36 million Americans, live in areas at risks to Atlantic storms. Last year, in response to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, Louisiana evacuated two million of its residents from the coastal areas, the largest mobilization in its history. They are preparing to do so again this year and increase the number of residents who may be sheltered within the state. In an earlier blog posting, I wrote about how the team at the New Orleans Small Business Development Center told me of their clients who did not have the funds to pay for a fourth evacuation in the 2008 hurricane season should one be called. State officials realize that the 2009 season may be worse, as with the weak economy, many people won’t be able to afford the cost of the evacuation and may choose instead to shelter in place which, as the events of Hurricane Katrina showed, could be a fatal option.

Back to New Orleans

I just returned from a very enjoyable few days in New Orleans where I facilitated a “Train the Trainer” day-long workshop for the counselors of the Small Business Development Centers across Louisiana. One of the challenges that was discussed concerned the need to budget for successive evacuations, which FEMA does not reimburse. One of the counselors told me of a client who had to evacuate the Gulf Coast area three times during the 2008 hurricane season at a cost of $1,000 per trip. He does not have the funds available for another evacuation. Another counselor suggested that New Orleans residents should accept the reality of hurricane season as a cost of living in the community and budget some savings for it.  If they are not called to evacuate in a given year, they have a Christmas fund with the accumulated savings. Good advice for all of us, no matter where we are located. Liquidity, or the immediate availability of cash, is important for all small businesses, particularly in the current economic environment.

I also had the opportunity to visit some of the community-based non-profits in New Orleans which are laying off staff owing to the downturn in charitable donations that began with the Wall Street crisis of September 2008. On a happier note, I had two excellent dinners with the SBDC team: one at Mr. B’s and one at Bourbon House, both in the French Quarter. (We stayed at the Hotel Monteleone where our program was held.) I recommend both to readers who will travel to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, which will begin on February 24 this year.

In an earlier posting, I wrote of a lawsuit filed by Gulf Coast residents concerning their FEMA-provided housing. Today, the Court ruled that the varying nature of the claims would disqualify them for class action consideration, making it impossible for them to be consolidated. Once again, effective disaster preparedness and recovery programs provide more certain outcomes than post-disaster litigation. It appears that many of these claims will move forward on an individual basis.

Louisiana SBDC Disaster Kit

As residents of Louisiana anticipate the approach of Hurricane Gustav, I am reflecting on my most recent trip to the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The occasion was a series of “Dare to Prepare” workshops sponsored by the Louisiana Small Business Development Centers in mid-August. The workshops received very kind attention from the New Orleans Times-Picayune.  Participants in the workshops were given a number of takeaways, including a disaster kit. One of the participants in the second workshop in Slidell, Louisiana announced to the group that she had worked at 225 Broadway in Lower Manhattan on 9-11-01. Having lost her job, she moved to London and then re-joined her family in New Orleans to help with their business, just in advance of Hurricane Katrina. She and her sister were seated in the front row at the workshop, eager to share their experiences of disaster recovery and preparing for the next one. I cannot think of a better example of resilience and like all Americans, I am praying that Hurricane Gustav spares the Gulf Coast.

The third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina prompts me to reflect on the Greater New Orleans Small Business Sustainability Summit of 2008 in which I had participated earlier this year. New Orleans small businesses are dealing with issues that are all too familiar to us in Lower Manhattan: how do you reinvent your business to survive, and even thrive, in a completely new environment? How do you cope with the issues of disaster fatigue? How do you manage your frustration as you approach an anniversary date and reflect on how little progress has been made? The Summit provided a great forum for us to learn from one another.

Small businesses coming together at the Edgewater Baptist Church

On the one hand, it was remarkable to see how much we had in common. The recovery effort in New Orleans was impeded by the inability of the federal and state governments to agree to a common framework, and the constantly changing rules - a situation with which we in Lower Manhattan are all too familiar. Carmen Sunda, the Director of the New Orleans Small Business Development Center, took me on a tour of some of the affected areas. I have attached a few of my pictures. Even three years after Hurricane Katrina struck, the FEMA trailers and demolition signs are everywhere. And yet, I could see the resilience and commitment of those who participated in the small business neighborhood summit.

Notice the house markings

Demolition signs were everywhere