black…MYstory

To call Hurricane Katrina a catastrophe was too mild. To call the levees breaking a disaster fails to capture the severity of the problem. To call what happened in the days to follow “neglect” fails to capture the depraved indifference of our government to the plight of the people. To call the nearly two years that many of these families have been stuck in limbo “willful ignorace” would be a lie as we, in this country, know that the promises were never kept to the families. And, today, as the death rate climbs in New Orleans, we face another moral dilemma that screams for our attention.

Yes, I said the death rate is climbing. You may ask, “how?”. You may wonder why, almost two years later, we would see a spike in the death rate there. While there is some debate, it is believed that the increase in deaths is tied to physical and psychological stresses from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The bodies are no longer being dragged from houses and buildings toppled by Hurricane Katrina, but nearly two years later many in the medical community think the storm is still killing.

Storm survivors are dying from the effects of both psychological and physical stress, from the dust and mold still in dwellings to financial problems to fear of crime, health experts and officials say.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Katrina is still killing our residents,” Orleans Parish coroner Dr. Frank Minyard said this week.

“People with pre-existing conditions that are made worse by the stress of living here after the storm. Old people who are just giving up. People who are killing themselves because they feel they can’t go on,” Minyard said.

Furthermore, there is a really telling number in all of this:

But New Orleans medical officials say that jump, from 11.3 per 1,000 deaths to 14.3 per 1,000, — a leap of more than 25 percent — was anything but slight. Moreover, the report doesn’t take into account evacuees who died while away from the city and were returned for burial.

Over the past several years, we have become a country that’s learned not to care about average people. We can blame the victim with an ease that would make any sociopath proud. This is still a huge moral dilemma for all of us so, what are we going to do? Better yet, when are we going to start holding people accountable for not getting the victims of Hurricane Katrina the money that’s already been collected on their behalf and get these families the financial and medical help they so desperately need?

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