http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091502010.htmlSome of the Uprooted Won't Go Home Again
By Richard Morin and Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 16, 2005; Page A01
HOUSTON, Sept. 15 -- Fewer than half of all New Orleans evacuees
living in emergency shelters here said they will move back home,
while two-thirds of those who want to relocate planned to settle
permanently in the Houston area, according to a survey by The
Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the
Harvard School of Public Health.
The wide-ranging poll found that these survivors of Hurricane Katrina
and its aftermath remain physically and emotionally battered but
unbroken. They praised God and the U.S. Coast Guard for saving them,
but two weeks after the storm, nearly half still sought word about
missing loved ones or close friends who may not have been as lucky.
Most already know they have no home left to return to. The
overwhelming majority lack insurance to cover their losses. Few have
bank checking accounts, savings accounts or credit cards that work.
Still, nearly nine in 10 said they were "hopeful" about the future.
And while half said they felt depressed about what lies ahead, just a
third said they were afraid.
<snip>
The poll vividly documents the immediate and dramatic changes that
Hurricane Katrina has brought to two major American cities. It also
suggests that what may be occurring is a massive -- and, perhaps,
permanent -- transfer of a block of poor people from one city to
another. That may have social, economic and political consequences
that will be felt for decades, if not generations, in both
communities.
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