Hurricane Donations are Running Out

It’s Mardi Gras time in New Orleans, and as an act of civic morale boosting, why not? However, the Gulf Coast is still a mess six months after New Orleans flooded. Over $2 billion in private aid has already been disbursed, and less than $1 billion remains. Experts say it won’t be enough.

The Washington Post ran a survey of non-profits working in the Gulf Coast and discovered a shortfall is almost inevitable. The Red Cross, for example, has handed out 84% of all the hurricane donations it received. Half of that money went out in cash donations so the refugees (the word is used deliberately because that’s how those people were treated by their government) could buy food and pay for hotel rooms. Some 6% of the aid was in kind, mostly from corporations, and the plywood, bottled water and clothing went to deal with immediate needs.

The charities are now faced with addressing long-term issues. Projects that require $200 billion in government funds are still on the drawing board, and the $960 million the Post says the charities have on hand needs to last years. It still won’t be enough. “Even if we doubled, tripled or quadrupled what we have, we still wouldn't be able to meet the need,” Gary Lundstrom, director of projects for Samaritan’s Purse, told the Post. His organization “is rebuilding homes along the Mississippi coast and in Louisiana's ravaged St. Bernard Parish with much of its $34 million,” according to the paper. Unfortunately, even in a down real estate market, $34 million is a mere drop in the bucket.

Another dimension of the long-term recovery is the commercial re-development of the region. For example, the Post notes, free clinics are terrific, but they make it very difficult for physicians to get their private practices going (of course, a national health care system with a single payor would fix that, but common sense is not always part of the equation).

The situation clearly demonstrates the limited ability of private operations to fix things. The $3.27 billion raised may sound impressive, and it is a testament to the basic generosity of most Americans, but when compared to what is needed, it becomes clear that government is the only tool society has that can really get the job done. And that is why the miserable response from government is so very disappointing.

The Danish flag appears here as a protest against the violence being done to the free press of that country and elsewhere by those offended by some cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, peace be unto him. A perceived insult is not an excuse for intimidation and violence, even in the name of the Creator. One cannot insult God, only small-minded men who falsely claim to speak for Him. © Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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