31 August 2005 (Wednesday)
dissertation
From this article in the New York Times:
The Superdome refugees will make the 350-mile trip from New Orleans to Houston on 475 buses to be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Governor Perry said. The Astrodome, which can provide living space for about 25,000 people, will be available to house them - and presumably other refugees - at least until December, and longer, if necessary.
Twenty-five thousand people. Four months, maybe longer. It will be its own little city. I assume there are pregnant women among the refugees, so babies will be born. People will stake out "private property" and build homes as best they can. Schools will form, because there's no way the Texas public school systems can absorb all those children. Churches and other worship groups will spring up. Underground business will develop, and probably civilian law enforcement as well. People will die, some from the secondary effects of the hurricane (poor sanitation, malnutrition, disease), and some from other "natural" causes. Families will break up, new couples will form. Perhaps there will be a wedding or two. In many ways, they will live like any other large group of refugees, but somehow it will be so different.
Katrina Refugee Camp Culture. This is going to be a fascinating doctoral thesis one day. Who will write it?
# posted by shanna at 4:11 PM
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