It’s been nearly two and a half years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, an area 2,650 miles from Eugene.
To keep students from forgetting about the devastation, the University’s chapter of Amnesty International, a worldwide network of human rights activists, has organized the four-day “After the Storm: Reflection and Reconstruction in New Orleans” event.
“Living here in Oregon, we’re somewhat distanced from (the hurricane),” said University junior Matt Linday, an AI member.

Coordinator Danny Novick added, “We only get kind of a superficial perspective of it from a two-minute news clip.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday evening in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, AI will be screening “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” Spike Lee’s documentary on Hurricane Katrina and its effect on New Orleans.
For Thursday, AI has organized a panel discussion, which Novick considers the most important aspect of the whole event. Featured speakers include Jim Elliott, associate professor of the sociology department; Andre Le Duc, the executive director of Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience; and Chris Simons, a New Orleans native.
“What I’m going to be doing is giving a sociological perspective on not just how disasters played out in New Orleans, but also how the recovery played out, how that tends to exacerbate problems,” said Elliott, who taught at Tulane University for seven years before coming to the University.
While in New Orleans, Elliott conducted a study that found Hurricane Katrina relief ultimately widened the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots.”
“It’s basically committed to restoring property – houses and businesses – and not recovering community,” Elliott said.
Elliott said many people in lower-income areas – such as the Lower Ninth Ward, where there has been about a 10 percent recovery – aren’t always able to collect insurance money like those in more affluent areas. He said middle- and upper-class people are able to tap into the bureaucracy and fix their homes, adding amenities they didn’t have before, which he calls “the Jacuzzi effect,” while the low-income populations fall deeper into poverty.
At the panel, speakers will also touch on other natural disasters, such as the recent forest fires in San Diego.
“Hopefully that aspect will make people here in Oregon realize it can happen again and can happen closer to here,” Linday said, pointing out Eugene’s close proximity to San Diego, compared with New Orleans.
The event will end Friday night with a benefit concert at the Campbell Club, a student co-op located at 1670 Alder St. Featuring The Frohtet and Ari, The Irresponsibles, Action Panther and The Party Tigers, the concert has an admission of $4 to $7, to be donated to New Orleans’ youth.
Novick said the main goal of AI is to keep Hurricane Katrina in peoples’ minds.
“It’s not over yet and it won’t be for a long time,” he said. “Keeping it in social consciousness and keeping it alive so it’s not pushed into the shadows – there’s always the possibility that a situation like this can happen again.”
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