Two decades after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans still faces too much poverty and needs stronger economic development to secure its future, former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said on Newsmax Saturday.
“We need more good-paying private sector jobs,” Jindal told Newsmax’s “America Right Now.” “We’ve got a thriving energy sector, thriving ports, thriving tourism-based economy. But there do need to be more, better-paying jobs to keep people in the city, to attract people back to the city.”
Jindal, who was representing New Orleans in Congress when the storm struck in 2005, pointed to three areas of progress since Katrina.
“No. 1, we have a much better educational system than there was before Katrina. Nearly 100% of the children are now in charter schools,” said Jindal, who became governor three years after the storm. He noted the introduction of school choice and improved test scores, graduation rates, and retention.
He said the healthcare system also has been transformed, with a modern medical complex replacing the old charity hospital system.
“Now we’ve got a modern university medical center that was built in cooperation with the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs]: a $2 billion modern complex, where you have LSU [Louisiana State University] and Tulane [University] training residents, you have veterans receiving care, you have uninsured care. It’s become a center of excellence with a very high-level trauma center,” Jindal said.
He also credited billions in state and federal spending for the improved levee and flood protection in the city.
“There’s still work to be done on coastal restoration, but the city is better protected than it was before the storm,” he said.
Reflecting on the storm’s immediate aftermath, Jindal recalled both the government failures and the resilience of ordinary people.
“Twenty years ago, you think about it, we saw just incompetence at the federal, at the state, at the local levels,” he said. “It wasn’t bad intentions. It was just incompetence from our government.”
Still, he said, it was “amazing” when that was contrasted with “the generosity, the strength, the resilience of everyday people that helped each other.”
“You saw first responders who lost their homes running towards danger to rescue people off rooftops,” he said. “You saw the Cajun Navy volunteers, neighbors jumping into boats when they knew there were people stranded out there. You saw the Coast Guard plucking people off rooftops.”
Jindal said the disaster showed the need for citizens to prepare for themselves and their communities.
“Ever since that disaster, we’ve always told people you’re your best first responder,” he said. “Not only should you have a plan for yourself and your family, you should have a plan to look after your neighbors.”
He closed the interview by thanking those across the country who stepped up during Louisiana’s recovery.
“I just want to thank the entire country,” Jindal said. “They were so generous to help Louisiana get back on its feet. This is an amazing country. Thank you to Americans who volunteered and sent donations to help us recover from Katrina. That’s what Americans do.”
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