Katrina: danni al patrimonio storico

[Felix (POL)]

HISTORY/ARCHIVES COMMUNITY RALLY TO ASSIST IN KATRINA AFTERMATH

HISTORY/ARCHIVES COMMUNITY RALLY TO ASSIST IN KATRINA AFTERMATH As
emergency officials continue to find and rescue survivors, recover
bodies, and clean up the wreckage from Hurricane Katrina, which
devastated a significant portion of the Gulf Coast nearly two weeks ago, efforts are also underway by various history and archival organizations to pitch in and begin to survey the damage done to sites of historical significance and to preserve as much as possible. This rescue and salvage effort takes on special importance in a part of the country that is especially rich with historic sites, artifacts, and archives.

In New Orleans, aerial photos indicate that the French Quarter is
relatively dry and intact. Locations such as the Caf du Monde,
Preservation Hall, and St. Louis Cathedral appear to have survived the brunt of the storm. Museum directors have also determined that the New Orleans Museum of Art, home to one of the most important collections in the south, has also been spared from severe damage.

However, other sections of the city were not so fortunate. Virtually everything in the Latin Quarter and the Garden District suffered some damage. Preliminary reports indicate that the New Orleans Public Library was hit hard and its archive of city records, which are housed in the basement of the building, probably experienced flooding. At the New Orleans Notarial Archives, which hold some 40 million pages of signed acts compiled by notaries of new Orleans over three centuries, initial efforts to save historical documents were unsuccessful. A Swedish document salvage firm, hired by the archives to freeze-dry records to remove the moisture from them, was turned away by uniformed personnel as they attempted to enter the city. There are a considerable number of freezer trucks available as soon as they are allowed to access areas currently closed. In the case of both the public library and the notarial archives, time is of the essence as humidity, mold, and water damage may decimate these collections in a matter of days.

Many of the city's oldest historic neighborhoods were completely lost to the floods. The U.S. Mint, which was once captured by the Confederate Army, is missing part of its roof, while uncertainty remains about the artifacts inside.

Katrina has affected other important historic sites in Louisiana as
well. Fort Jackson, located south of New Orleans, location of an
important Civil War naval battle, has suffered extensive flooding. In addition, the Louisiana State Museum suffered moderate to extensive damage.

In Mississippi, the Old Capitol Museum had a third of its copper roof blown off, resulting in the flooding of a storage room and exhibit area.
Beauvoir, the home of Jefferson Davis, located in Biloxi, was virtually destroyed. Throughout the ravished parts of the Gulf Coast, numerous trees and old houses have been lost, in many cases with no hope of recovery. Many unanswered questions remain as to the condition of historical artifacts that were in private hands, or the condition of other archival collections that may have survived the floodwaters.

As the recovery efforts continue, historical preservation teams will
begin the long process of retrieving documents, photographs, and other important pieces of history that have helped to shape a nation. What follows is a summary of the emergency recovery and assistance efforts we know about.

An emergency team from the National Park Service Museum Resource Center
will soon be arriving in New Orleans to begin its preservation work,
salvaging every artifact they possibly can and protecting them from
mildew. They will be concentrating specifically on artifacts located at
the Jazz Museum, the Louis Armstrong home, the archives at Jean Lafitte
National Historical Park, and the Chalmette battlefield. The National
Park Service has also assembled a technical leaflet entitled After the
Flood:
Emergency Stabilization and Conservation Methods, which offers
suggestions on how to prevent additional damage and how to maintain
historical
integrity: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/nps/npsafter.html .

The Heritage Emergency Task Force is also stepping in to assist in the
recovery. This task force was created for the purpose of assisting
cultural heritage institutions in the protection of their collections in
the event of natural disasters. Co-sponsored by Heritage Preservation,
Inc. and the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), it
includes over 30 federal agencies. At the present time, the task force
is working to coordinate information with the various historical
institutions along the Gulf Coast and are encouraging everyone to donate
money to the Disaster Relief Fund, as health and safety remain the
highest priorities. The FEMA web page at
http://www.fema.gov/ehp/ehp_katrina.shtm and the Heritage Emergency
National Task Force webpage
(http://www.heritagepreservation.org/...MS/TASKFER.HTM) have links to
hurricane response information posted that cover such topics as how to
get aid (both individuals and governments), how to respond and salvage,
and how to mitigate damage.

The Library of Congress will be offering free rewash services to
institutions impacted by the hurricane for motion picture films,
provided that the film can be transported to the lab at Wright Patterson
Air Force Base. Those interested in the offer should contact Lance
Watsky at lwatsky@sos.state.ga.us.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is making available $1
million in hurricane relief for Gulf Coast cultural resources. The
emergency grants of up to $30,000 are being made available through the
executive directors of the state humanities councils in Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisiana and are available to libraries, museums,
colleges, universities and other cultural and historical institutions
affected by the hurricane. For additional information about the program,
tap into http:www.humanities.gov .

In order to help with assessing the damage that has been done to other
historical institutions, the American Association for State and Local
History (AASLH), working with the American Association of Museums, has
put together a "first reports" webpage that can be accessed at
http://www.aam-us.org/aamlatest/news...stReports.cfm; other
information is being updated constantly at http:www.aaslh.org and at the
AAM website at http:www.aam-us.org/aamlatest/news/hurricane.cfm . The
AASLH has also established a Historical Resources Recovery Fund in which
100% of the dollars secured will be used for the recovery of historical
resources in the affected states. Additional information is available
at http://www.aaslh.org/katrina.htm . A disaster relief for museums web
site established by the International Council on Museums (ICOM) also
provides exhaustive and updated information on the effects of the
disaster with regard to museums; visit the site at
http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/katrina.html .

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is also raising funds to
assist in the recovery of historical properties and is looking for
volunteers skilled in preservation, architecture, engineering, and small
business development. People interested in serving on one of the
assessment teams scheduled to go to affected areas when allowed in
should go to the Trust's webpage at http://www.nationaltrust.org/ for
further information.

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) has begun a list of volunteers
willing to help with disaster recovery. Interested parties can visit
http://www.archivists.org/news/hurricane-volunteer.asp; additional
information including a joint statement by the archival community can be
viewed at http://www.archivists.org . One of the first organizations to
act especially swiftly in efforts to assist is the Society of Southwest
Archivists (SSA). That organization has established a weblog to share
information about colleagues and others in Louisiana and Mississippi who
have been affected by the hurricane. It can be viewed at
http://herbie.ischool.utexas.edu/ssacares or contact Brenda Gunn at
bgunn@mail.utexas.edu for additional information. One bit of good news
is that there do not appear to be any archivists missing - all have been
accounted for and have reported in to their home institutions.

The Organization of American Historians (OAH) along with the American
Historical Association and the Southern Historical Association have
joined hands to establish a "historians to historians" message board; it
is a place where historians can offer or request assistance. Several
categories such as "Need help-housing" and "Need help-transportation"
have been set up to facilitate communication and assistance. For the
site, visit the OAH webpage at http:www.oah.org where the URL link
(still under development at this writing) is prominently displayed.

On the academic front, while many of the colleges and universities
affected by Hurricane Katrina will soon resume classes, Tulane
University (information about Tulane is available at
http://emergency.tulane.edu ) and Loyola University will remain closed
until the spring semester in order to repair the damages to their
infrastructure, technology, and communication systems. Students
enrolled at both Tulane and Loyola are being encouraged to attend nearby
schools and to transfer credits. The History News Network
(HNN) has established a blog where the Tulane history students and
faculty can communicate with each other. It can be viewed at
http://hnn.us/blogs/45.html . In addition, the Chronicle of Higher
Education has created a webpage where affected colleges, associations,
and government agencies providing assistance can post messages; go to
http://chronicle.com/katrina .

Colleges and Universities across the country are offering temporary
admission for students directly affected by the hurricane and its
aftermath. For example, some schools in Texas, where many residents of
Louisiana fled, will allow out-of-state students to enroll at in-state
tuition rates. The University of Miami has said that they will allow
students to take classes there, collect tuition, and hold it in escrow
for the colleges that the students would otherwise attend. The
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History has also
said that they would offer temporary positions to the faculty members of the affected universities.

[Pieffebi]

" Katrina: è tutta colpa di Bush?


di Stefano Magni


[07 set 05]

Il New York Times, dopo la catastrofe di New Orleans intitola: “Abbiamo bisogno di un leader”. E la grande stampa ha seguito l’esempio e si è accodata al linciaggio di Bush. Ma cosa doveva fare il presidente americano? Nessuno pretende che ora si metta a fermare le tempeste. Tuttavia la critica si basa su due fronti: avrebbe dovuto difendere maggiormente il territorio della Louisiana (costruendo argini più robusti e preparando un miglior piano di evacuazione) e invece ha destinato il grosso dei fondi federali alle forze armate; non ha saputo gestire il dopo-uragano e soprattutto la crisi derivata dalla scarsità di carburante.

Ma cosa si poteva fare di più e di diverso, con un uragano superiore al livello 4? Con venti che spiravano a 145 miglia orarie, cioè 233 km/h? Un uragano di forza analoga si era abbattuto sugli Stati Uniti nel 1900: il Galveston, che aveva provocato 6000 vittime. Considerando che allora aveva devastato un’area ben poco densamente popolata, la sua letalità fu molto superiore a quella dell’attuale uragano Katrina. Un uragano, sempre di livello 4, che aveva colpito il Bangladesh nel 1970, aveva causato circa 1 milione di morti. Per quanto riguarda Katrina, i danni che ha provocato sono gravissimi; le vittime (tuttora in fase di conteggio) sono alcune migliaia, ma rispetto ai precedenti uragani di forza analoga ha inflitto molti meno danni. Perché? La risposta può essere solo una: il piano di evacuazione e le difese predisposte erano abbastanza buone. Paesi meno tecnologizzati, come gli stessi Stati Uniti all’inizio del secolo scorso o il Bangladesh, dimostrano che la settimana scorsa, lungo la costa del Golfo, i morti si sarebbero potuti contare a milioni e non a migliaia, se non fossero state predisposte misure difensive valide. Basti pensare che da New Orleans era stata evacuata l’80% della popolazione, in base a piani predisposti con anni di anticipo.

L’evacuazione, per di più, è stata condotta in pochissimo tempo, considerando anche l’incredibile velocità (che ha colto di sorpresa tutti i meteorologi) con cui l’uragano si è avvicinato alla costa meridionale degli Stati Uniti. E molti di coloro che sono rimasti in città ed hanno perso la vita, avrebbero potuto salvarsi, ma hanno preferito rischiare pur di non perdere le loro proprietà. Gli argini che hanno ceduto non erano opere in terra risalenti al secolo scorso (i primi furono eretti negli anni ’30), ma opere in cemento armato, spesse diversi metri, costruite di recente, nell’ambito di un programma di rinforzo che avrebbe sicuramente garantito la massima sicurezza in caso di uragani forti fino al livello 3.

Praticamente nessuno aveva previsto l’evenienza di una tempesta di simile potenza come Katrina e la costruzione di nuovi argini in grado di reggere una forza d’urto del genere avrebbero richiesto, approssimativamente, una trentina di anni. Molti politici, poi, soprattutto in ambiente liberal e ambientalista, ritengono che la colpa di Bush sia a monte: il non aver aderito al Protocollo di Kyoto. Costoro sono convinti che l’uragano Katrina sia un prodotto dell’effetto serra e del riscaldamento globale, dunque accusano Bush di aver volutamente ignorato il fenomeno. Ma uragani ancor più forti di Katrina erano anche più frequenti in passato, con o senza riscaldamento globale, indipendentemente dal comportamento tenuto dagli umani sulla terra. Per cui, anche in questo caso, Bush non avrebbe potuto fare un bel niente per evitare la catastrofe.

Per quanto riguarda la crisi post-uragano, la vittima principale nell’economia americana è il prezzo del carburante: la maggior parte degli oleodotti della costa del Golfo è distrutta, così come è andato perduto o danneggiato almeno il 12% della capacità di raffinazione del petrolio. In alcune aree, la benzina già manca del tutto. La critica più facile, in questa situazione, è mossa da chi vuole che venga imposto un calmiere sul prezzo del carburante e si punta già il dito contro chi specula e guadagna sulla crisi. Ma, come ricorda l’economista Jerry Taylor del Cato Institute, non c’è altro meccanismo efficiente, al di fuori dell’innalzamento del prezzo, per distribuire al meglio risorse diventate improvvisamente scarse. Di benzina, ormai ce n’è poca, mentre la domanda non è diminuita: se fosse imposto un calmiere sul prezzo, come fece Nixon nel 1973 in seguito all’embargo petrolifero, la domanda aumenterebbe ben oltre la disponibilità reale di carburante. E, come avvenne allora, si vedrebbero solo delle lunghe e frustranti code di auto di fronte alle pompe di benzina, in cui solo le prime possono fare il pieno.

Ad essere facilmente messo sotto accusa, poi, è il federalismo. Stando ai critici centralisti americani ed europei, se vi fosse una pianificazione centrale degli aiuti, a quest’ora non si sarebbe verificato il caos a cui si assiste in queste settimane a New Orleans. Ma per quanto riguarda i bisogni immediati degli sfollati (cibo, coperte, acqua e un tetto sotto cui dormire), questi possono essere soddisfatti da organizzazioni piccole, vicine al bisogno, quali le congregazioni religiose e le associazioni non profit locali. E le piccole organizzazioni caritatevoli si infatti sono già mobilitate in massa sul luogo del disastro, raccogliendo fondi e fornendo aiuto immediato agli sfollati. Non solo sono più efficaci, ma possono anche provvedere a fornire quel calore umano che un camion dell’esercito che lancia aiuti a masse di bisognosi, di sicuro, non può offrire.

07 settembre 2005 "
dal sito di IDEAZIONE



Saluti liberali