新奥尔良在卡特里娜破坏十年后蓬勃发展

Ten Years after Katrina, New Orleans Is a Different City 新奥尔良在卡特里娜破坏十年后蓬勃发展

Ten years ago, a very powerful storm struck the southeastern United States. Hurricane Katrina brought destruction and flooding to states bordering the Gulf¹ of Mexico.

Flood waters covered large parts of New Orleans, Louisiana. Today, much of the city’s housing has been rebuilt. So have roads and other infrastructure². Businesses, trade and visitors have returned to the area.

President Barack Obama visited New Orleans on Thursday as the Gulf Coast marks the 10th anniversary of the storm. He and Mayor Mitch Landrieu went to several neighborhoods affected³ by the storm. The president praised the efforts to rebuild New Orleans, but said more needs to be done.

"Because of you - the people of New Orleans - working together, this city is moving in the right direction."

The city has changed

After 10 years, New Orleans has recovered. But it is a different city than the one before the storm. Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin voiced the feelings people have for the city.

“Ten years later, we are proud to show off what we think is one of the greatest renaissances of any city in history, anywhere.”

The city’s demographics also have changed. New Orleans is, in many ways, a younger city today than it was in 2005. Mr. Kopplin says that is partly because it appeals to young people with its culture, music and food.

“We have almost 500 more restaurants in the city of New Orleans today than we had before Katrina; so we have fewer people, but more restaurants.”

New Orleans is different in other ways. It has improved bridges and roads. The city also has better schools than 10 years ago and a smaller, more diverse population. Allison Plyer studies statistical⁴ changes for The Data Center. She says New Orleans now has about 385,000 residents.

“The city has about 100,000 fewer African Americans than it did pre-Katrina. It also has about 10,000 fewer white residents. We have more Latinos and Asians than we did.”

For a long time, New Orleans was a popular stop for both U.S. and foreign travelers. The destruction hurt the tourist industry for some time. Now, city officials say tourism is doing well again. Andy Kopplin says New Orleans had 9.3 million visitors last year.

Mark Romig is with the New Orleans Tourism Marketing⁵ Corporation. He says visitors are important to the local economy.

“Tourism is one of the mainstays of our economy. Roughly 80,000 individuals work in the tourism industry.”

New Orleans offers tastes, sights and sounds that can be found nowhere else.

Investment and young people have fueled economic gains

Economic development groups say there are jobs in New Orleans for people with an education or valuable skills. New industries and investment in small, start-up technology companies are growing.

Michael Hecht is head of Greater New Orleans, Inc. His group supports development in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

“We are number one, per capita, in terms of in-migration of people under 25 with a college degree.”

New Orleans and the state of Louisiana have benefited from federal aid. Michael Hecht says major investments from American and foreign private capital companies also have helped.

“Louisiana is now number one per capita (in the U.S.) in foreign direct investments; we have had investments over the past few years from Europe, from Asia, from South America.”

New Orleans began as a port near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Officials say more than ever before the city is linked to the rest of the world.

Official discusses lessons of the disaster

Still, the memory of the disaster remains⁶. One-thousand-eight hundred people are believed to have died because of Katrina. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. Problems after the storm were blamed on lack of coordination⁷ between politicians, relief organizations, the military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Craig Frugate is FEMA’s current administrator⁸. He says state and federal groups now coordinate⁹ their efforts. He said it has helped that Congress has given his agency more resources to begin preparing even before a governor declares a major disaster.

Mr. Frugate says building codes have been upgraded, and adds that he believes the city will be able to resist another major storm.

Words in the News

demographics – n. having to do with the qualities, such as age, sex, income, of a group of people

diverse – adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

statistical – adj. having to do with statistics, numbers representing information about something such as how often it happens, how common it is, etc.

benefite(d) – v. to have helped

upgrade(d) – v. to make something better

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

8 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

9 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。