The Katrina clean-up efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers in Louisiana have been substantial over the past two years judging by the list of accomplishments released by their field office this month: Almost 6,700 storm-destroyed homes have been demolished and hauled to landfills statewide. 260,000 tires have been recycled. More than 8,000 salt water killed trees have been removed from public right-of-ways, mulched and recycled… (more)
Overall, 58,000 killed trees have been cut up and hauled off, while more than 5 million pieces of hazardous waste have been processed and recycled.
More than 28,500,000 cubic yards of debris, resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the ensuing flood damage have been removed — enough to fill over ten Empire State Buildings. The debris field was five times that of Hurricane Andrew and the Corp responded with a record team of 1,700 workers in Louisiana alone to clean it up, including handling the removal of 50 million pounds of putrid, rotting meat.
They repaired 81,000 roofs for FEMA and replaced over 300 critical public facilities and schools.
"Lots of people have given their hearts and souls, night and day, working long, long hours for two years," said the deputy director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Louisiana Field Recovery Office and the and as the area engineer for debris operations.
(www.faceofthecorps.com)
I think this is not only good news but also an important story for the country. While the major news organizatons are highlighting everything undone in New Orleans, and even Oprah has dedicated a show to displaying the still tragic stories of displaced people, it’s important to see how much has been done to bring repair and relief to the area.
Celebrating good news is not the same as acting as though bad things do not happen. We cannot let the existence of bad circumstances convince us that there is nothing good, pure, beautiful, creative in this world and, therefore, in ourselves. Thank you, Geri, for once again giving us another tool to create positive thoughts and a positive world.
“Celebrating good news is not the same as acting as though bad things do not happen. ” Exactly! They do happen but it is a question of putting them into a wider perspective and emerging picture. And there is still good news to be found in places like New Orleans with plenty of heroes and inspirational people showing you can cope, even turn it into a victory, despite all the odds being against you. It’s proactivity and choice.
My fav book on the overall big picture of improvements is “The improving State of the world”.
Thanks for the compliments.
I have heard some people on NPR say their lives have greatly improved since the hurricane. I wonder if Oprah is featuring these?