The Gulf Coast: Road To Renewal
Friday, April 14, 2006
A Nightly Business Report Special
Airing on PBS -- check your local listings for time and date
About | Related
NBR Stories | Photos & More | Additional
Sources
About "The Gulf Coast: Road To Renewal"
More than seven months after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf
Coast, the region is hardly back to normal. Fewer than half of New Orleans residents
have returned since the storm, and 9.9% of Mississippi residents remain unemployed
-- more than double the national average. But there are some hopeful signs.
Rebuilding plans are starting to take shape, and Federal funds are beginning
to flow to affected areas.
So what is the status of rebuilding efforts? As individuals struggle to piece
their lives back together, are they getting the help that they need? And how
will the Gulf Coast that emerges from the damage compare with the one that existed
before Katrina?
Nightly Business Report looks at these issues in its Good Friday holiday special on April 14, and in a one-hour special edition airing nationwide on PBS, because rebuilding the Gulf Coast has major implications not just for the region, but for the nation
as a whole.
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Dilapidated house in
New Orleans' ninth ward
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In addition, the program will:
- profile courageous individuals in one neighborhood (East New Orleans) who
witnessed the destruction of everything that they owned, but are determined
to restore their lives and community;
- seek out former residents and business owners who left New Orleans, to
find out what it will take to get them to return to the city;
- examine the prospects for an economic comeback in Mississippi, where some
of the hardest-hit cities are redesigning their downtown areas;
- take a historical look at the fates of two other American cities (Galveston
and Charleson) that sustained major damage from past hurricanes;
- look at the prospects for a revival of the arts and culture that gave the
Gulf Coast its special character.
NBR Co-anchor Susie Gharib hosts this important special, which will also feature
on-scene reports from NBR correspondents.
Created in 1979, Nightly Business Report is television's longest-running daily
business news program on broadcast or cable. It is produced by NBR Enterprises/WPBT2/Miami
and is distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service to more than 225 public
television stations across the country, reaching about 90% of U.S. television
households. Additional funding for "The Gulf Coast: Road to Renewal" is provided
by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Related NBR Stories
- NBR Hurricane
Coverage
Nightly Business Report covered the economic impact of Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita and Wilma in more than 40 stories in the fall of 2005.
Additional Sources of Information
- Don
Powell, Federal Coordinator of Gulf Rebuilding
The official Federal government site about what is being done to help the
Gulf Coast recover from the hurricanes of 2005.
- The Louisiana Recovery
Authority
The Louisiana Recovery Authority is the planning and coordinating body that
was created in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita by Louisiana Governor
Blanco to plan for the recovery and rebuilding of the state.
- 2-28-06
-- Progress Made: A 6-Month Update on Hurricane Relief, Recovery and Rebuilding
This white paper provides a good summary of what's been done by the government
since the Hurricane. It was prepared by the Federal Gulf Rebuilding Coordinator's
office (above), which you should note is a governmental rather than journalistic
source.
- Washing
Away: A Special Report from The Times-Picayune
Way back in 2002, New Orleans paper The Times-Picayune ran a five-part series
that predicted the flooding that happened with Katrina. NBR co-anchor Susie
Gharib discusses the series with the newspaper's editor, Jim Amoss, for this
TV program. Please note that The Times-Picayune will request that you provide
your zip code, year of birth, and gender before you can read the articles.
- Insurance
Information Institute
Some very interesting facts and statistics about hurricanes, 1985 to present.
- The New York Times
Two articles from the Times are particularly relevant to NBR's coverage of
the Gulf Coast renewal. Please note they are available only by subscription
to The New York Times online site.
OPINION | March 13, 2006
Editorial:
To Save a Crippled City
It took a while, but President Bush finally seems to get what happened
to New Orleans. (Available to paid NYT subscribers only)
NATIONAL / NATIONAL SPECIAL | March 14, 2006
Road
to Rebirth Diverges on a Mississippi Bridge
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Two cities want a bridge rebuilt soon, but they disagree over whether
to keep it small or make it larger to accommodate growth. (Available
to paid NYT subscribers only)
Photos & More
Topics covered in the special include:
Faith-based fixers (reported by Jeff Yastine), the Brennan family of restauranteurs
and their perspective on restoring tourism (reported by Susie Gharib), "Transform
or Restore" (reported by Jeff Yastine), and "Will They Return"
(reported by Diane Eastabrook), in addition to the following:
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Marc Morial, former
Mayor of New Orleans
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- Rebuilding a Neighborhood (reported by Darren Gersh)
- Interview with Marc Morial, former Mayor of New Orleans (conducted by Susie Gharib)
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NBR's Diane Eastabrook at the Levee
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- Averting Future Floods (reported by Diane Eastabrook)
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Streetscape of Galveston, TX,
which was devastated in
the 1900 Storm
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- A Tale of Two Other Cities (reported by Linda O'Bryon)
- The Cultural Outlook (reported by Susie Gharib)
- Nick Spitzer is the host of "American
Routes" on Public Radio, which has been broadcast for six years from
New Orleans. The program presents a broad range of American music supplemented
by documentary features and interviews.
- One of the Jazz figures interviewed in NBR's special is Dr.
Michael White, who is profiled on the Basin
Street Records web site.
