Important and Useful Links

(started 10/31/05)

• New information on failures and omissions in the 17th Street Canal levee design
   

• Homeowner Assistance Program proposed by Louisiana Recovery Authority

•     Road Home Plan approved by LRA; next steps (3/17)

•     Preliminary proposal announced on 2/21.  Exact text of the governor's speech....
   

• ANSWER SPOT - archive of all Q&A published by the Times Picayune in their Answer Spot weekly columns.  (Note:  there was a problem on their web page as of 1/29.  Hopefully, they will fix it soon).
   

• Citizens for One Greater New Orleans - leading the fight for a single levee board comprised of experts.
   

• Levee work on the 17th Street Canal - Army Corps of Engineers web site - including land requirements
   

• Louisiana in Limbo - (New York Times editorial 1/31/06)
   

• New legislation for consolidating the levee boards (TP analysis 1/31)
   

• Federal report predicted Katrina cataclysm (TP article 1/24/06)
   

• Bush administration strongly criticized for poor Katrina preparation, despite advance warnings (1/24/06)
   

• Redevelopment proposals for New Orleans - committee presentations (added 1/12/06)
   

• Army Corps of Engineers web site for New Orleans levee work (added 1/12/06)
   

• IRS information for Katrina victims (BizNewOrleans article 1/6/06)
   
• Corps timeline for announcing plans to take property along the 17th Street Canal (BizNewOrleans article 1/3/06)
   
• 2006 property tax assessments - look up the information for your house
   
• Lawsuits trying to make us whole - overview article in Times Picayune article on 12/26.
   
• Excellent site for daily updates on Katrina-related legislation in Baton Rouge and Washington (www.bayoubuzz.com).
  
  Evidence points to the levee failures being a man made disaster (TP article, 8/8/05).
   
• Corps hints that it may need to expropriate houses along 17th Street Canal,
  but no definite decisions yet (TP article 12/7)
   
• Newsweek photo galleries of Katrina - an amazing collection of pictures
   
• Louisiana sales tax refund application (for destroyed personal property not covered by insurance)
   
• Scary Times Success Manual - usual strategies for keeping your head on straight during this difficult situation.
   
• Email addresses for congressmen (finance committee, ways and means committee, etc.)
   
• Filing casualty losses for a federal tax refund - guidelines from the IRS, including special new rules (10/11/05) for Katrina victims.
   
• Legal issues related to Katrina - McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC, a law firm based in the Gulf Coast region, has launched a comprehensive resource for companies with business interests in hurricane-affected areas. The blog, found at www.hurricanelawblog.com, features up-to-date information about post-hurricane legal issues, including insurance, real estate, healthcare, environmental, finance and litigation.
   
• Louisiana Recovery Corporation - Overview of Representative Baker's proposed legislation.
   
• Councilman Batt's testimony to Congress 11/17/05 in support of the Baker legislation.
   
• What's next for damaged homes? - Useful roadmap article (10/28) from BizNewOrleans.com.
   
• What's my extent of damage?  There is a link on the www.cityofno.com home page for people to see their damage assessments. It is under the "City Expedites Permitting Process to Speed Recovery" title. You can enter in your address and see the estimated damage %. It looks like 2 stories areat 31.65% and one stories are damaged 53%.
   
• Flood zone map for zip code 70124.
   
• Expedited Permitting Process for the City of New Orleans.  (11/05)
   
• Trash pickup schedule for 70124 - see map (Adobe Acrobat required).  Note:  Debris and white goods pickup will continue as well.  (11/9/05)