Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans: Discursive Spaces of Safety and Resulting Environmental Injustice

HURRICANE KATRINA AND NEW ORLEANS: DISCURSIVE SPACES OF SAFETY AND RESULTING ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Andrew B. Shears August, 2011 Dissertation written by Andrew B. Shears B.S., Ball State University, 2003 M.S., Ball State University, 2005 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2011 Approved by ____________________________________, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. James A. Tyner ____________________________________, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Mandy Munro-Stasiuk ____________________________________ Dr. Robert M. SchwartZ ____________________________________ Dr. Scott C. Sheridan Accepted by ____________________________________, Chair, Department of Geography Dr. Mandy Munro-Stasiuk ____________________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Timothy Moerland ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………..………………………………………………….iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………………………vi DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………………………………...vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………..1 A. DEFINING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE………………………………………….3 B. THE GAME PLAN………………………………………………………………………..19 C. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK……………………………………………..20 II. ABOUT NEW ORLEANS……………………………………………………………………...29 A. THE HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS……………………………………………….33 B. NEW ORLEANS IN 2005…………….……………………………………………….85 C. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………...111 III. HURRICANE KATRINA……………………………………………………………………..113 A. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RELIEF APPARATUSES IN THE UNITED STATES………………………………………………………………………115 B. “HURRICANE PAM”…..…………….………………………………………………..121 C. THE GENESIS OF KATRINA.……………………………………………………...136 D. EARLY WARNINGS OF A SHARPENING TARGET………………………..138 E. DIRE WARNINGS, EVACUATION AND THE ANTICIPATION OF LANDFALL……………………………………………………………………………….144 F. KATRINA GRAZES CITY……………………………………………………………151 G. DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE IMPACTS………………………………………….154 H. KATRINA TRAVELS INLAND…………………………………………………….158 I. KATRINA’S WAKE……………………………………………………………………161 J. THE FAILED RESPONSE…………………………………………………………...169 K. MOVING FORWARD…………………………………………………………………176 IV. DISCURSIVE SPACES OF SAFETY………………………………………………………178 A. THEORETICAL SIGNPOSTS……………………………………………………….180 B. A SAFE PLACE FOR CAPITAL…………………………………………………….218 C. DISCOURSES OF A SAFE PLACE THROUGH THE STATE’S APPARATUSES…………………………………………………………………………221 D. FAILURES OF APPARATUSES TO UPHOLD DISCOURSE……………...242 V. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………......268 A. WHAT TO DO WITH NEW ORLEANS?.........................................................273 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………….…………………………………………………….279 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: An early plan of La Nouvelle Orleans, 1728………………………………………...38 Figure 2.2: Map of New Orleans in 1798……………………………………………………………...43 Figure 2.3: Map of territory included in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase……….………….47 Figure 2.4: Map of Settled Area of New Orleans, including canals, 1835………………..51 Figure 2.5: Table of New Orleans Population, 1810-1900…………………………………….57 Figure 2.6: Map of Settled Area of New Orleans, including canals, 1900………………..63 Figure 2.7: Map Displaying Progression of Drainage System, 1910-1940………………64 Figure 2.8: Map of African Americans in New Orleans, 1940………………………………...67 Figure 2.9: Reference Map showing Inner Harbor Navigation Canal……………………..69 Figure 2.10: Topographic Cross Section of “The Bowl” of New Orleans…………………76 Figure 2.11: Floodplain map of central New Orleans……………………………………………79 Figure 2.12: Population Table of New Orleans Metro Area, 1910-2000………….……..81 Figure 2.13: Reference Map showing Mississippi River Gulf Outlet………………………84 Figure 2.14: Reference Map showing Urbanized New Orleans, 2005……………………86 Figure 2.15: Map of Elevation in central New Orleans…………………………………………87 Figure 2.16: Map of Average Annual Subsidence, 2002-2005………………………………88 Figure 2.17: Map of Major Canals, Levees and Pumping Stations…………………………91 Figure 2.18: Diagram Showing I-Wall and T-Wall……………………………………………….92 Figure 2.19: Population Density in New Orleans and Neighboring Areas, 2000……94 Figure 2.20: Map Displaying Seven Parishes of New Orleans MSA……………………….96 Figure 2.21: Map of Neighborhoods of New Orleans……………………………………………97 Figure 2.22: Map of African Americans in New Orleans, 2000………………………………99 iv Figure 2.23: Map of Residents Under Two Times Poverty Level, 2000…..……………107 Figure 2.24: Map of Households Without Personal Vehicles, 2000……...………………109 Figure 2.25: Map of Residents 18+ years, Lacking High School Education, 2000….110 Figure 3.1: Hurricane Katrina Satellite Images, Florida Landfall…………………………137 Figure 3.2: Hurricane Katrina’s Windfield Shortly Before Louisiana Landfall………141 Figure 3.3: Two Different Warning Maps, Hurricane Katrina……………………………...143 Figure 3.4: Satellite Imagery of Hurricane Katrina pre-Louisiana Landfall…………..152 Figure 3.5: Map of Approximate Storm Surge Depth from Hurricane Katrina………153 Figure 3.6: Map of Breached Levees in central New Orleans……………………………….156 Figure 3.7: Satellite Imagery of Katrina’s Louisiana and Mississippi Landfalls……..159 Figure 3.8: Satellite Imagery of Katrina Dissipating Inland…………………………………160 Figure 3.9: Map of Floodwater Depth, August 31, 2005………………………………………162 Figure 3.10: Map of Floodwater Depth, September 3, 2005………………………...………163 Figure 3.11: Map of Floodwater Depth, September 14, 2005………………………………164 Figure 3.12: Map of Floodwater Depth, September 15, 2005………………………………165 Figure 3.13: Map of Floodwater Depth, September 20, 2005………………………………166 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As the author of this behemoth of an academic work, I honestly cannot believe that it is finished. I never in my wildest expectations growing up ever thought that I would write a dissertation and earn a PhD in any field; I’m still in a sort of disbelief that I earned my undergraduate degree back so long ago. I certainly could not have gotten to where I am now if I didn’t get substantial help from so many sources. First, many thanks go to my parents, Frederick and Carol Shears, for providing me a good foundation for my intellectual pursuits, the motivation to achieve more, and yes, at times, a cash loan here and there when we couldn’t quite make it to payday. I strive for nothing more in life than to make you proud, a product worthy of the parenting efforts you’ve invested in me over the years. Also, my “adoptive” parents, Paul and Kay Eldridge, to whom I’m forever thankful for bringing Amy into the world, and who’ve welcomed me into their family as one of their own, for providing so much support over the past seven years I’ve known them. To Jim Tyner, my adviser and mentor, I must extend the utmost gratitude. His direction has been crucial not only to the successful completion of this project, but also to encouraging me to seek my full potential as an academic geographer. His incredible examples of scholarship will be one that I will always try to match and never quite reach. I will forever be grateful for his guidance in this process as a mentor, a role model and a friend. I also owe many thanks to Rob Schwartz, my masters thesis adviser at Ball State who led me on a track to academic geography, and by a crazy coincidence landed at the nearby University of Akron during my pursuit of a doctoral degree at Kent State. Rob’s guidance (and occasional prodding!) has helped me immeasurably in maintaining the motivation necessary to see the completion of this project. Three of my colleagues deserve special recognition for their contributions to my life during the past few years: Emily Fekete, Don Colley and Jennifer Huxley. The three of you have been an incredible source of intellectual and emotional support, cheering me up when times were difficult, celebrating with me when times were going well, and all-and-all being great friends as we all tackle this adventure together. I’ll never forget the times we’ve spent together, having beer in the local pubs, critiquing each others’ papers and arguments, laughing about the latest example of gross student ignorance, venting frustrations behind closed doors, sharing both our oddball intellectual ideas and the latest pieces of juicy gossip. Thank you for being a part of my life and shaping so much of this experience in a positive way. Beyond these folks, I have been fortunate enough to develop an unbelievably large community of colleagues and friends to whom I owe a substantial debt of gratitude for providing support in so many ways, whether providing intellectual discussion late nights in a pub, serving as a sounding board for my crazy ideas or my frustrated ranting, helping me out of jams, sending uplifting notes when I needed it most, and providing consistently excellent advice to help set my path in academe. I list them here alphabetically, to not minimize any of their contributions: Chris vi Airriess, Michael Allen, Valerie Aquila, Shawn Banasick, John Barr, Bethany Beams, Surinder Bhardwaj, Gregg Bowser, John Boyer, Bill Breder, Carla Brown, Steve Butcher, Kevin Butler, Collette Callaway-Johnson, Mary Lou Church, Alex Colucci, Pat Coy, Dave Czajkowski, Michelle Davis, Kory Dakin, José DíaZ-Garayúa, Shanon Donnelly, Michael Dunbar, Ute Dymon, Sam Edmonds, Ken Foote, John Frye, Michael Gregorio, Derek Gregory, Mark GuiZlo, Jason Haley, Marlene Harmon, Kurt Heidelberg, Dave Hollinger, Josh Inwood, Adam Johnson, Dave Kaplan, Benjamin Keil, Don LaFraniere, Lindsay LaPorta, Del Levia, Christina Longo, Sage McMillan, Mandy Munro-Stasiuk, Vanessa

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