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Paying Tribute to New Orleans; Two Hurricanes in the Atlantic
Aired August 29, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Five years ago today, Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury on the Gulf Coast. And on this anniversary, the Gulf region remembers lives and livelihoods lost to the storm as it celebrates survival. President Obama and his family are in New Orleans to mark the anniversary and to remind people of the administration's commitment to help. The president spoke just last hour at Xavier College.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wanted to come here and tell the people of this city directly, my administration is going to stand with you and fight alongside you until the job is done. Until New Orleans is all the way back.
All the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Correction, at Xavier University CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian in New Orleans there traveling with the president. So he renewed his commitment and he also talked about the matched efforts between the recovery post-Katrina and even the BP oil spill.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. All of those topics. And the sound you just played from the president really was the theme of his remarks here today, where he's pointing out that the government really will do everything in its power to make sure that the people here of New Orleans and also the Gulf region are made whole.
And that in touching on BP, he promised that same resolve. To make sure that everyone who has been impacted by the devastating oil spill will be able to recover. But the president pointing out that this region certainly still has some challenges. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I don't have to tell you that there's still too many vacant and overgrown lots. There's still too many students attending classes in trailers. There's still too many people unable to find work. And there's still too many New Orleans folks who haven't been able to come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LOTHIAN: Now the president also before coming here stopped over at the Parkway Bakery, along with the other family members. The first family, where they had lunch. They mingled with the crowd there and the president ate some shrimp. And there as well as he was surrounded by a lot of people who wanted to shake his hand and even give them a few kisses. He told them that the federal government will continue to work very hard. They will not be forgotten to make sure that this area does indeed rebuild. Fred?
WHITFIELD: OK. So while he's offering that reassurance that people will not be forgotten there, there are people along the Gulf Coast who are wondering why the president wouldn't visit their towns along the Gulf Coast. And just New Orleans. How does the White House respond to that?
LOTHIAN: You're so right about that. In fact you know, over the last week or so, I've gotten inquiries from people who are asking me whether or not the president was going to, for example, Mississippi and why every time that an anniversary comes and it's remembered, that all of the focus is on New Orleans. And what the White House says is that this really was the symbolic epicenter of the storm where significant damage was done here.
And so the president felt that this was the right place to be. But the White House also pointing out that other administration officials have gone out to some of these other areas and they also said that during the president's speech, he talked about not only the recovery and the progress that's taking place here in New Orleans, but also all across the Gulf region. So they don't believe that the president really has been shortchanging the rest of the Gulf region. They just believe that this was the best place to make his remarks today.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much. Appreciate that, from New Orleans.
Meantime, he leaves Xavier University and go throughout New Orleans and still lots of signs of Katrina and the devastation it brought, particularly in the Lower Ninth Ward. And that's where we find my colleague, Don Lemon, to give us an idea of the signs of recovery and the signs, many signs of work that still has yet to be done. Don?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. I'm glad you mentioned signs. Because again we're here in the Lower Ninth Ward. Look at his, see this sign right here - says coming soon, make it right. It has a nine on it. It just shows you some of the homes that are about to be built here.
Another sign of recovery. I don't know if you can see back there, but this is one of the new playgrounds in the area. You can see kids. Kids were gone from this area for so long. That's how you can really see that it's at least starting to come back when you see kids. Hey, go this way and let's show them down the street here.
This is Tennessee Street. The famous Tennessee Street where Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation has been doing so many of the homes here. This street though, Fred, used to be just filled with homes. You know, they were stacked right next to each other. You can see some of the empty lots, some of the newer homes, the green homes, energy-efficient homes that they're building here. So it's really not the same as it was, but at least it's getting back here.
But take a look. Let's take a little tour down the street here. I want to be quite honest with you. It's good that, you know, recovery and what Brad Pitt is doing, Fred. But it's really like the Hollywood movie set version of the Lower Ninth Ward, because when you go through streets and you see streets that really don't look like this. You know, they're still tattered and torn and there's nothing built on them. Huge fields, grassy fields, with nothing on them. So it's really a sign of devastation.
Here's one home right here that you see is about to be - under construction here. You can see all of the joints and everything that they build them. And they build them up off the ground much higher than they were before. That's where we're camped out right here. That's' why this is a Hollywood movie set version of it. So Robert Greene is letting us use their house. Right over here you see someone selling snowballs. And they do this all the time, Fred, because people actually come through here and they tour it almost like it's a Hollywood movie set. They want to come and see what happened.
WHITFIELD: So Don, they come through there because of the name, you know, Brad Pitt that's associated with it. But as you mentioned, you just go a couple of streets over, because I remember that from being there last year, that there's still steps to nowhere. Remnants of what used to be a house on this property. But there's a lot of frustration still building in that community, where there are folks who are saying there are only pockets where it is actually being addressed. How people can return to their homes. And in cases here, a lot of folks are buying these homes for the first time.
LEMON: Yes. You're absolutely right. I mean, listen, there is recovery here. It's slow and as I've been saying to you as we've been talking here, you know, this is the first time I've come back and I really see New Orleans feeling, looking and feeling a whole lot better. But there's definitely, there are definitely things that need to be fixed. The government, the police department, all of those issues.
But yes, you're right, some people feel like, hey, we're forgotten here. Many of the people here, just because you have this one street in this one area that's on the road to recovery, it doesn't mean that the entire city is doing that. I want to show you this morning, Fred, we're talking about people coming to tour the street.
Some of the residents who live here had a second line, I don't know if we have the video. But had a little second line parade celebration this morning to celebrate five years they say and five years of recovery and really to bury Katrina. This morning I was in the French quarter right in front of the Monteleone Hotel and they had a Katrina burial this morning, a second line. They had a casket and everything, they had a reverend there and they said, we're burying Katrina. He said I am reverend no more excuses. So all day long, all over New Orleans, that's what's been happening on this fifth anniversary. But there you see it, right here - you know, the homes, they look nice, they look nice. It would be great, though, Fred, if all of New Orleans, you know, looked like this.
WHITFIELD: Well, they're very contemporary and very green, Brad Pitt said he was trying to be very conscientious about the building of those homes. They're very modern, very different from the traditional homes there. But there's something special because there are so green and so ergonomically and ecologically and environmentally friendly.
LEMON: Absolutely. You know, this sort of personifies what the city needs to do as far as business. The businesses need to evolve beyond just sort of the tourism industry. And food and what have you. And so, the city, as far as businesses, they need to become more economically friendly or more green-friendly.
WHITFIELD: Yes, environmentally friendly, you and I are both having a hard time with that word. Environmentally-friendly. That's it.
LEMON: The word I'm thinking about, I'm talking about getting involved in the internet and more technologically savvy. And sort of grow beyond the traditional businesses here in New Orleans. Hey, listen (INAUDIBLE) we were talking about people who were sort of celebrating and talking about the anniversary of Katrina.
You know at St. Paul's Episcopal Church which is in Lakeview, they also had a service today to remember. That church was really flooded. They had a fundraiser and a remembrance ceremony. They are raising money for their school there. So the school can go on a little vacation. All over town today, there are ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And in many ways, they say they're burying her and they're also celebrating that they were able to survive five years afterwards, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Don, we're going to show in the 5:00 Eastern hour, you're going to be back with me here. We're going to show video of that second line you were talking about. Because we're anxious to see, now we know that's a great tradition that you'll see in New Orleans in so many different ways. But we're going to see it again in, in you know, by marking this fifth anniversary.
LEMON: And I think it's cool to like let the viewers just kind of walk through and see this, Fred, so thanks for giving me all this time so that people can actually, you don't have to come down here and see it, we can show it to you here on CNN. We'll talk more when we see you in an hour.
WHITFIELD: Yes, in an hour, we'll see you again. Don, thanks so much. Don's mentioning there have been lots of ceremonies -
LEMON: All right, Fred. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Ceremonies throughout New Orleans, throughout the morning and there continue to be more later on. In fact, the city is sponsoring a ceremony at Jackson Square to pay tribute to the people of New Orleans. Helping the mayor as masters of ceremony, political commentator James Carville, New Orleans, you know, is his home. He's also going to be joined by his wife at that ceremony later on this evening.
So James is with us now. So James, give me an idea, how important is it for you to be part of this ceremony this evening, to celebrate all that has been done, and of course, to remind people of what still needs to be done for the city to get back?
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's very important. And it's not a celebration, we call it a commemoration and determination. And commemorate what happened. And to also show our determination to keep on with this recovery. Which in some ways, has gone quite well.
You know, we're lagging in some areas, but this is not a 50/50 story here. It's a 75/25 story. And it's 75 on the good side. Real progress has been made here in the last five years. We need to acknowledge that. By the same token, in some areas, particularly the Lower Ninth Ward, we're talking about, we tend to forget that that sea wall broke and knocked those homes completely off of the slabs. And as it did in St. Bernard Parish and it's going to take a while for some of these areas to come back. But there's also a lot of good stories here and I hope we cover those.
WHITFIELD: Well, as we talk about this five-year marker, what are your hopes that this might symbolize a pivotal moment in what way. Instead of a five-year marker of five years after the devastation, perhaps this is a new starting point in your view?
CARVILLE: Well, the big thing for us and no other city understands this, is we want our culture intact. And so far, the results I think are better than we could have hoped for. Our food costs, you know, 809 restaurants the day before the storm. Today there are 1111 in this area. We have two Grammy award winners.
In a lot of our things that we hold dear, our way of life here has been preserved. We don't want to live like other people. And we've been able to cling to that. And we've been able to move ahead. We've moved tremendously, in political reform. We've made significant strides in protecting ourselves. Our levees are stronger today. We have all kinds of areas that, that things have gotten better here. And that we need to acknowledge that. Now some of the neighborhoods, Lower Ninth being one, (INAUDIBLE) being another. (INAUDIBLE) but some of the stuff is starting to catch up. And hopefully in the next five years we'll be able to bring all of the city back.
WHITFIELD: The president was there earlier today. How important has it been that the president would be there on this five-year marker?
CARVILLE: I think it's very important. This is, you know, this was the greatest disaster, there's was nothing natural about this disaster. In New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish. It was a colossal engineering failure on the part of the federal government. This was the result of negligence. It's been found by a federal court, and that's one of the things that people have to know. Is people here, the government has an obligation to make this thing better.
Somebody pointed out, we had $200 billion of damage here. And we've been compensated for $26 billion. We're, we only got one-eighth of the way there, and we're coming up pretty strong. So I feel good about this and I think that the engineering failure of 2005 needs to be commemorated. But be very careful, never call what happened here a natural disaster. It was not natural.
WHITFIELD: Well, you know, James, the president said in his speech today, he says as a candidate he promised that the new levee system would be complete by 2011. And he reiterated that they are on schedule and that that's going to happen. If that's the case, do you believe this might be renew the confidence in government, that some, many people there feel like they lost?
CARVILLE: Well, I think so. And everybody that I talked to says that the levees, while they're not where they need to be, they're working on them and they're better than they were before Katrina. And I think we need to acknowledge that. And acknowledge that these levees are stronger and people know that. And I wouldn't want to try another Katrina type of event.
But every expert said we would fare much better and the similar event than we would today. And that's another success story down here.
WHITFIELD: All right. James Carville, thanks so much. You and your wife, Mary Matalin will be inside the church there and be part of the ceremony this evening. Good to see you, thanks so much.
On this fifth anniversary of Katrina, two hurricanes, two more hurricanes to worry about. We're tracking Danielle and Earl, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Of course, a lot of talk about the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Meantime, there are a couple of other hurricanes and tropical storms percolating in the Atlantic. Jacqui Jeras, here with us now.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Fredricka. Yes, we're being impacted by one of those storms already. Even though it's more than 1,000 miles away from the U.S. coastline. And that is Hurricane Danielle. We'll show you the big picture here.
This is Danielle, this is Earl over here. And this is an area of concern that has the potential for development. And becoming a tropical depression in next 48 hours. And it could eventually become tropical storm Fiona as well. So we'll be watching this and they're just lining up as those waves come off the coast of Africa and make their way across the Atlantic basin. What Danielle is doing right now is very powerful hurricane. And it's going to be weakening as it takes a sharp right-hand turn this way. So it's pulling away from the U.S. coast. But it's creating some very large swells. And those swells take their time and they propagate towards the U.S. coast. So we've got a high threat of rip currents here and some rough surf and there are a lot of advisories and there are quite a few rescues that took place this weekend. Now, that's going to be dying down by tomorrow but Earl is right on its heels.
So we expect things to be risky in the waters as we approach next weekend. Which by the way, as you know, is Labor Day weekend, a holiday weekend. I know a lot of you guys have plans for the beach. So keep that in mind when you're thinking about going there.
Now Hurricane Earl is a category one storm, maximum winds, 75 miles per hour. It's moving across the Leeward Islands right now. There are hurricane watches, which are in effect, as well as tropical storm warnings for the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico. Now, where's Earl going and what kind of intensification can we expect? This is a storm that everybody on the East Coast of the U.S. needs to pay very close attention to.
Take a look at this forecast track. Well, we think it's going to be moving north of Puerto Rico, it's going to start to make this northerly turn and then maybe eventually move up to the north and east. And check out that cone of uncertainty.
Let's zoom in and hear a little bit first and talk about what's going to happen down here. Intensification is going to be expected because the islands just really aren't very big so they're not going to do a lot to knock this storm down. So it's likely going to become a category two. It's going to bring heavy rainfall here, and expecting anywhere between four and eight inches of rain. Now, as it moves downward, it should skirt east of the Bahamas, but look at that cone from the Carolinas, stretching all the up to Cape Cod. This would be hitting late Thursday or into Friday.
It may take a swing and a miss, but either way, we're certainly going to be feeling the impact with those rough waves and we might even get some outer bands. It is too soon to tell, Fredricka, whether or not it will make a U.S. landfall. But now's the time that you want to start thinking especially with that holiday weekend, where your travel plans are going to be, if you need to evacuate, where you're going to go, who you're going to call. All that kind of stuff.
WHITFIELD: And in the meantime, that means as you sun and fun on the beach, please be careful because the waves, the currents, very treacherous right now.
JERAS: Absolutely. And as you mentioned, by the way, the five-year anniversary of Katrina, a lot of people still have those questions of how safe New Orleans is today and what if one of these hurricanes comes that way. Well, coming up, we're going to talk to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and see what the status update of the levees is.
WHITFIELD: We look forward to that. Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate that.
We'll have more in the NEWSROOM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at the top stories right now.
The U.S. role in Iraq changes this week. Tuesday marks the end of combat operations for U.S. troops. The nearly 50,000 troops will move into more training and advisory roles. President Obama will talk about the change in an address to the nation Tuesday night. And you'll see that live right here on CNN.
Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, is in Rome today, to mark the anniversary of normalized relations with Italy. The two countries signed a pact in 2008. It' is the second straight year that he has gone to Rome to celebrate.
And around 8,500 pounds of ground beef are being recalled by Cargill after it was linked to several people getting sick from E. coli. The meat was sold in packages in some northeast and mid-Atlantic states. Check for the USDA establishment number 9400 and product code W69032. It was supposed to be used or frozen by July 1st. You can find out more, have those numbers one more time at cnn.com.
All right. The lessons learned as Katrina turns five. A conversation with the Army Corps of Engineers about levees and trust.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is rebuilding New Orleans' system of levees, flood walls and pump stations. A $14 billion project. 220 miles of levees and flood walls built so far, and authorities say the city is already safer. But not everyone agrees. Here's CNN Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The long road back from Hurricane Katrina has brought Sonya Hill here. To one of the handful of houses rebuilt right where the industrial canal flood wall gave way.
SONYA HILL, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: You're looking at the wall. I'm thinking, what if it breaks again. What if it happens right here in front of the door and I'm inside with my kids. I don't feel safe back here if a hurricane comes through.
MESERVE: Sonya says she can't afford to live somewhere else.
HILL: Yes.
MESERVE: But Roy Arigo doesn't want to move, his house is just a few hundred feet from where the 17th Street canal flood wall failed.
(on camera): This is the same kind of wall that failed five years ago?
ROY ARIGO, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Yes, it is.
MESERVE: Is that scary?
ARIGO: Yes, it is. And this is a fragile wall.
MESERVE (voice-over): Arigo was angry at the Army Corps of Engineers and blames it for the destruction of his city.
ARIGO: We see the work and we're told about all of the progress. But can we trust it? And to be quite honest, I don't think that we can.
MESERVE: In the Gentilly neighborhood near the London Avenue canal breach, Willeane Brown believes that the engineering isn't what matters.
WILLEANE BROWN, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: They could build a levee high as they want to. God has the power. If he want to tear down a building, whether it's low or high 25 feet, 30 feet. He can knock it down with his power.
MESERVE: Her faith makes her feel safe here. Not her sister, Carrie.
CARRIE BROWN, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I had to give the government the benefit of the doubt that the wall going to hold. Well I tried. That don't mean it going to work.
MESERVE: For Carrie Brown and many others, the shadows cast by the levees is long and dark.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Still lingering frustration and concerns about the integrity of those levees. But are those fears justified? Let's turn now to CNN meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras who has been reporting on that massive government rebuilding project to make the city safer.
JERAS: Yes, I mean it's a huge project, right?
Right after Katrina the clean-up began and shortly thereafter, the rebuilding started. And the question everybody wants to know is how safe is New Orleans today and how protected are those people? Joining us now is Mike Park and he's the deputy director of the Task Force Hope and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, thanks for joining us this afternoon. Tell us, what's the latest? What's the update on the levee system as it stands now?
MIKE PARK, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Well thank you for having me. Right after hurricane Katrina, the first order of business for the Corps of Engineers was to restore the levees and the flood walls that was damaged during the hurricane. We've did that, we've repaired 220 miles of levees and flood walls around the New Orleans area and then we've continued to work on improvements to the system. One of the things that we did was we built closure structures, and pump stations at the mouths of the three New Orleans outfall canals, which prevent storm surges from entering those canals and we're reconfiguring the system further to build surge barriers that will prevent storm surges coming in from Lake Bourne into the Gulf intra coastal waterway and the industrial canal.
And a similar project on the West Bank, where we're building a closure complex that's going to include the largest pump station in the world. At the just below the intersection of the Algiers and Harvey canals to keep storm surges out of those canals.
JERAS: This is quite an extensive system, 350 miles around. Some of these walls go up to 20 feet high. What type of storm are they capable of protecting the city against?
PARK: In fact, some of the walls are up to 30 feet high. Around the St. Bernard Parish area where we have the highest potential for storm surge, those walls are about 30 feet high. Our design is for a system that will reduce the risk for a storm that has a 1 percent annual probability of occurrence. We call that the 100-year storm.
But it's also being designed to be resilient for a storm that has, is a 500-year event. So that if we experience a storm that's greater than what we're authorized to build a system for and it gets overtopped, well the system won't fail. It will still be there, after the hurricane event.
JERAS: OK. So there's a 1 percent chance basically in any given year, that storm surge would equal or exceed the level of protection with this system, correct?
PARK: That's what the system is being designed for. But there are several components to a storm surge. There's the still water elevation and on top of that, there's the wave energy that is produced by the storm. And so this system is being built so that it will only experience wave overtopping even for a five-year, 500-year event.
JERAS: So how is this levee system different or better than the system before Katrina?
JERAS: Well, I mentioned the closure structures on the canals. Those closure structures will prevent storm surge from even touching floodwalls and levees that are, it's going to take about 60 miles of the system out of exposure to storm surge, so that's one improvement. Other improvements include much more stringent geotechnical standards for the materials that we're using in the levees.
And extremely much, much more robust designs especially for the flood walls. Those flood walls are being built with a t-wall design, so- called because it resembles an upside-down letter t that is supported by pilings that in many cases penetrate 100 feet deep into the ground. So it's an extraordinarily more resilient and sturdy system than what was in place pre-Katrina.
JERAS: Now the pump system is also very critical to protecting the city as well. What can you tell me about how that has changed?
PARK: Well, part of this program is to invest heavily in interior drainage improvements. There have been about $1.5 billion appropriated by Congress for work on the interior drainage system and we've continued to work on that. We have repaired pump stations that were damaged during hurricane Katrina. And we've also done what we call storm-proofing of pump stations. What that does is it makes the storm; it makes the pump station able to operate during a hurricane where we've got safe houses for the operators. They can safely ride out a storm at this station and keep them in operation.
JERAS: The project is scheduled to be completed in June of 2011. Are you going to meet that deadline?
PARK: We are on track to have the physical features in place by June 2011 for that 100-year event we're going to have work that's going to continue beyond June, especially the work that we talked about on the interior drainage system. And other features of the project that are in the outlying parishes down Plaquemines Parish, for instance, but we're on track to have that system intact by June 2011.
JERAS: And that is the start of the hurricane season for 2011. Mike Park thanks so much for joining us and clearing up some of those things for us. He's the deputy director with the Task Force Hope and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Five years after Katrina, some families along the Mississippi Gulf Coast are still living in FEMA trailers.
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WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. A communication line is being set up today, so that 33 Chilean miners can talk directly with family members. It is the first time that they've heard from their families since they were trapped more than three weeks ago. Work on a relief shaft is expected it start tomorrow. But it could take as long as four months to actually reach the miners.
And the U.S. says there have been threats to aid workers helping flood victims in Pakistan. But today, Pakistani officials said they hadn't heard of any threats against international workers. There have also been complaints about the slow pace of aid in some area; at least 17 million people have been displaced by the flooding.
And we now have to watch out for hurricane Earl, Earl was upgraded to a category one storm earlier today. That's sparked warnings in places like an Antigua and the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Ahead of Earl is hurricane Danielle which has weakened to a cat one storm. Danielle is not considered a threat that would make landfall.
And five years now, after Katrina, 176 FEMA travel trailers are still being used as temporary housing in Mississippi. Governor Haley Barber made the announcement Wednesday. He said the low number of remaining units shows the success of the housing recovery efforts. Hurricane Katrina destroyed or severely damaged more than 200,000 homes, forcing homeless Mississippi families into 45,000 FEMA trailers in August of 2005. So where did the families who were living in the FEMA trailers go? The homes of many were rebuilt. But not everyone was that lucky. CNN's Soledad O'Brian is in Mississippi five years later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is where the house was? Five years ago they were living in a FEMA trailer. Denise was a mother just trying to keep her family sheltered and alive.
So now this is your bedroom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I don't like sleeping in cabinets.
O'BRIEN: When you look back at that time, what do you think?
DENISE SWANSON: I just can't imagine how we did it.
O'BRIEN: Today, they're in their new home. Built by an army of volunteers that descended on Purling ton, Mississippi after the storm.
TOM DALESSANDRI, COALITION OF DISASTER RELIEF AGENCIES: This was ground zero, literally the eye passed over it.
O'BRIEN: An estimated 6,000 volunteers came to the aid of this tiny village of fewer than 2,000.
DALESSANDRI: Total devastation.
O'BRIEN: People like Tom Dalessandri who came from Colorado.
DALESSANDRI: It's been estimated that 85 percent of the recovery, not only here in Purling ton, but along the Gulf has been done by volunteers.
O'BRIEN: Today the Swanson's are already upgrading their home. Thankful they got out of their FEMA trailer after two years. A trailer we found had high levels of formaldehyde and was making them sick.
How did you deal with that?
SWANSON: There wasn't much else we could do there was nowhere else to go.
O'BRIEN: Barbara and Charlie Syrie have nowhere else to go. They live about an hour away in Picayune, Mississippi, still in their FEMA mobile home. Intended as temporary shelter, these homes were built quickly with materials later found to have high levels of formaldehyde. In 2008, the Syrie's were told they could buy their FEMA mobile home. As part of the deal, FEMA tested for formaldehyde, the home failed but then the Syrie's say FEMA told them how to pass.
CHARLIE SYRIE: They told us, when we get there, we want all the doors open, all the windows open. We're going to let it cool down. We want it aired out. By airing it out, and the temperature being colder, would cut down on the numbers.
O'BRIEN: The lower reading meant the Syrie's could buy the trailer. They paid $5. A bargain they say has cost them their health. Charlie has been battling pneumonia. Barbara has constant headaches, all symptoms their doctors say of formaldehyde exposure. In a statement FEMA said they've taken steps to insure that all temporary housing units used in current and future disasters meet or exceed industry standards for air quality.
They also said they're encouraging owners to quote follow all industry-suggested practices for the maintenance, upkeep and ongoing air quality testing of their units. Inside of this is a formaldehyde vapor monitor.
Where do you want to hang it?
BARBARA SYRIE: My bedroom.
O'BRIEN: Our own testing this month found formaldehyde levels inside the Syrie's home five times higher than levels FEMA found almost two years ago. Well above the standard set for normal living conditions.
What does FEMA tell you when you say take this trailer back?
B. SYRIE: We can't.
C. SYRIE: It's yours.
B. SYRIE: You already bought it.
O'BRIEN: Now they're out of work, living on Social Security and can't afford another home. And they don't qualify for any other grants or housing options.
C. SYRIE: We fell through the cracks.
O'BRIEN: You ever think you'd be in this circumstance?
B. SYRIE: Never.
C. SYRIE: No.
B. SYRIE: I've been through every hurricane, like Katrina, it took my soul.
O'BRIEN: Reporting for "In America" Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Purling ton, Mississippi.
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WHITFIELD: And straight ahead, taking an old-fashioned approach when it comes to raising chickens. Farmers say going back to the basics is the best way to keep eggs and consumers safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: House members are holding hearings next month on the safety of the nation's food supply. The panel will focus largely on the massive salmonella outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across the country. The outbreak is linked to tainted eggs from two companies, Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms. Both of Iowa. Federal investigators found salmonella bacteria in the chicken feed there. Half a billion eggs have been recalled.
And even before the growing salmonella threat in the U.S., many farms across the country have been using a back-to-basics kind of approach to raising chickens. CNN's Martin Savidge takes us to one of these farms so that we can see how things are done and find out if it really does make a difference.
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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We're here at Serenbe Farms, which is actually located about 30 miles south of Atlanta. Oversimplifying, it's basically living a life the way we used to live. Say maybe 100 years ago and that especially comes into play when we talk about food and talk about chickens. Immediately you see here the chickens raised here look different than perhaps the industrialized version you might expect. Say hello to Paige Witherington, she is the farm czar or the farm manager here. And we're going to talk about these chickens. First of all, what is different? They're organic, they are free range?
PAIGE WITHERINGTON, FARM MANAGER: They're organic and free range. We continually move this paddock, so they can access to fresh grass and bugs and they get to forge like chickens used to forge like they should in nature.
SAVIDGE: And that's sort of the idea, go back to raising them the way they were accustom, the way they grew up.
WITHERINGTON: Exactly.
SAVIDGE: Well I want to show you the eggs here. Because not only the chickens look different, but the eggs look absolutely beautiful. It is almost like you decorated them for Easter. But you didn't.
WITHERINGTON: No, we didn't. We have a huge diversity of breeds of chickens here, so they all lay different colored eggs. We have the blue eggs, the green eggs and the dark brown egg, white eggs and it makes for a picturesque collection of eggs.
SAVIDGE: They're not only different on the outside; they're also different on the inside. We are going to challenge your egg breaking skill.
WITHERINGTON: Let's do one of the green eggs and we'll see what it looks like on inside. Most of the times our eggs have a beautiful rich orange yolk and that means that they've been foraging on all kinds of natural insects and grasses and roots and vegetables. And this orange yolk really makes a richer, more delectable egg.
SAVIDGE: So how does this all this mean that the egg is healthier?
WITHERINGTON: Because the chickens have a really well-rounded diet and they are not in a stressed confined area. They get to live a happy chicken life and they are much less susceptible to the illness that we are seeing in these industrialized chicken facilities.
SAVIDGE: So the lesson is you've got happy chickens making healthy eggs.
Back to you.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Marty.
And when we come back we're going to take you to Pakistan and show you the risk of getting aid to those flood victims there.
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WHITFIELD: In flood-ravaged Pakistan, getting aid to the needy is of the up most importance right now. But in some areas bridges are gone and aid convoys are getting backed up. In one area, some daredevil aid workers are risking their own safety to get help to the needy, crossing a flooded river in homemade rafts. Here's CNN's Reza Saya.
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REZA SAYA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ever since Pakistan's Swat River rose and became a killer, few have challenged its raging waters. Then came the river's new daredevils, six local aid workers who transport relief goods across the torrents every day. Their only protection from damage or death, used tire tubes and bamboo sticks fixed with gaffer tape.
ZAHID KHAN, AID WORKER: It's difficult; it's really difficult for us.
SAYA: Aid workers Zahid Khan say this is the chance you take when there are lives to save.
KHAN: The velocity of the water is very high because of its slope and that is dangerous.
SAYA: The people are trying to save are stranded across the river, hundreds of thousands of them. Cut off from help when Pakistan's monster floods made bridges disappear. Just last year it was bombs and bullets that destroyed lives and buildings when the army took on the Taliban. Here, everything seems broken.
SHAHRAVAN, FLOOD VICTIM (via Translator): We are fed up, says Shahravan. You don't ask a dead man why he's in his grave, it's not his choice. The 65-year-old says the floods wiped out his home.
Fayaz Muhammad says he lost his leg when his house was mistakenly bombed in the fighting last year. What you don't see are the scars from losing his wife and son in that same blast and now the floods. FAYAZ MUHAMMAD, FLOOD VICTIM (via translator): We are very sad for all that Swat has been through, he says.
SAYA: Aid workers waited two weeks for motorized boats to reach these people. When they didn't come, they built these rafts themselves. Their first three tries to cross the river failed. They made it on their fourth, delivering tents, blankets and relief items from the U.N.'s refugee agency.
ARIANNE RUMMERY, UNHCR: I think it's quite amazing, it shows how resilient people are. And where there's a will, there's a way. People have been able to basically use what they find, some tire tubes and bamboo to put something together which is helping people.
SAYA: Over the past couple of week's aid workers say they've made about 100 trips across the Swat River, taking nonfood items in tents to about 2,000 families. That's about 13,000 people who need help. Not bad for a few pieces of bamboo and tire tubes.
Sometimes the river reminds the oarsmen, who are supreme. Its current swept this raft downstream. But most of the time they reach their destination, a distribution center across the river. But for the Swat River's daredevils, this is no finish line. With hundreds of thousands still stranded, weeks of dangerous rafting remain.
Reza Saya, CNN, Swat Valley, Pakistan.
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WHITFIELD: Pretty extraordinary. So you think you have a rough commute? Don't expect much sympathy from these guys right here you're about to see. All coming from China, they deal with the traffic jam every day. But in this last case, ten days straight, it's more than 200 hours bumper to bumper. Drivers were stuck on this congested Chinese expressway. Day after day, night after night. And earlier today, CNN editorial producer, Nadia Bilchik explained how drivers pass the time during this record-breaking gridlock.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: I read something that they are so used to having this kind of traffic jam, so to speak, that they automatically go to sleep. They know, we're going to be stuck, go to sleep. One of the greatest challenges is waking them up. Once the traffic stops to go again, you know what is interesting who benefits from all this? Out of crisis, a ways comes opportunity. So you have the villagers along the roads, selling water at 15 cents. They sell it at $1.50.
WHITFIELD: And they are the ones who are benefiting.
OK. So while bad traffic jams are common in China, the situation has gotten even worse recently. Construction has closed down a busy Beijing highway, forcing traffic there on to already-clogged roads. A real nightmare.
All right. Meantime, a medical miracle coming out of Australia. A baby declared dead by the doctor, is apparently brought back to life by his mother's touch. The mother says, she brought her newborn son back to life with a method called Kangaroo Care. Katy Ogg held her son, Jamie close to her heart and began to see signs of life return to the baby. Doctors at Liverpool Hospital can't explain it. But the Ogg's called Jamie their little miracle.
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KATIE OGG, MOTHER: Almost as soon as the last person left the room, he startled, which was the first movement I had felt of his arms and legs. He started gasping more and more regularly. And I'm like oh my god, what's going on. A short time later he opened his eyes.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): When I came back in she said, mom, something's not right. He's, he's -- he's, he's still alive. And he -- put his little finger up and grabbed a hand.
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WHITFIELD: Gosh, that's hard to believe. A Sydney southwest-area health service spokesperson says quote "Very premature babies are extremely vulnerable. And it is not always known why some babies survive in difficult circumstances while others do not." It is important for parents to understand this; I'm quoting them now, "Understand that while there are other cases such as this one, they are very rare." According to that spokesperson.
Memories, and remnants of hurricane Katrina five years later, the storm took lives, destroyed entire communities and forever changed the landscape of New Orleans. Today, President Obama visited the city to reflect on the lessons learned from the storm along with renewing some commitments.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: I wanted to come here and tell the people of this city directly, my administration is going to stand with you and fight alongside you until the job is done. Until New Orleans is all the way back, all the way.
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WHITFIELD: The president spoke at Xavier University in New Orleans. CNN White House correspondent, Dan Lothian, is traveling with the president. So Dan the president vowed his administration, well the work is just simply not done.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And you know, another theme that we also heard from the president, in addition to that is, last time he was here, then Senator Obama, he talked about the failures and the neglect of the federal government.
Well, this time, again, he also criticized the Bush administration for shameful breakdown in government that left a lot of people not only in this city, but across the region, alone. So the president making the resolve that his - his administration would not do that, that they would make sure that all of the resources are brought to this region so that they can recover.
But the president also did point out that some serious challenges remain.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't have to tell you that there's still too many vacant and overgrown lots, there's still too many students attending classes in trailers, there's still too many people unable to find work, and there's still too many New Orleans folks who haven't been able to come home.
So while an incredible amount of progress has been made, on this fifth anniversary, I wanted to come here and tell the people of this city directly, my administration is going to stand with you and fight alongside you until the job is done. Until New Orleans is all the way back. All the way.
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LOTHIAN: Now Fredricka, just by the president coming here, many people feel it's an important victory because there is a sense among some that for people across the country, there's Katrina fatigue. A lot of people may have forgotten about the struggles still here in this area. And so, by the president coming here, they believe that he's been able to shine a very bright spotlight on an ongoing recovery process.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dan. Meantime, it's going to be a very busy week, the president, of course, talking Iraq, shifting gears on Tuesday, and you'll be traveling back to Washington with the president as well today?
LOTHIAN: That's right. We head back tonight. And it really will be an important week for the president, focusing on Iraq. That major speech from the Oval Office, that will happen. And then, also, later in the week, Mid East peace talks in Washington.
But, on Iraq, I mean, obviously what the administration says the president will be focused on is saying, listen, the president, when he was then campaigning, said that he would wind down the combat mission in Iraq. And now, this is what he will be doing. He'll be making announcement, not as a celebration, a mission accomplished, but as a milepost, a very important milepost.
And the president will also make in his remarks the case that there's still a lot of working to done there. There's still some 17 months or so that U.S. troops will still remain on the ground. They will be assisting the Iraqi forces in any way possible. They want to make sure that by the time the U.S. troops do pull out of Iraq, that they're capable of handling their own security.
So you'll hear some of those themes when the president makes that address to the nation this week.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much, traveling with the president there from New Orleans. Appreciate that.
