Remember all those photos of Banksy works in New Orleans that circulated around the 'net last week? Looks like he's in Alabama and other parts south this week. Above, an image snapped in Birmingham (Wooster Collective via Siege).
(1) Shaker Redstar at the shakesville blog has "been working in disaster recovery in post-Katrina New Orleans and the Gulf Coast since 2005." As the region geared up for Gustav during Labor Day weekend, Shaker compiled a "by the numbers" list that illustrates the lasting impact of the previous and far more devastating big storm:
.008. Percentage of the rental homes that were supposed to be repaired and occupied by August 2008 which were actually completed and occupied – a total of 82 finished out of 10,000 projected.
1. Rank of New Orleans among U.S. cities in percentage of housing vacant or ruined.
1. Rank of New Orleans among U.S. cities in murders per capita for 2006 and 2007.
4. Number of the 13 City of New Orleans Planning Districts that are at the same risk of flooding as they were before Katrina.
10. Number of apartments being rehabbed so far to replace the 896 apartments formerly occupied and now demolished at the Lafitte Housing Development.
11. Percent of families who have returned to live in Lower Ninth Ward.
17. Percentage that wages are up in the hotel and food industry since before Katrina.
20-25. Years that experts estimate it will take to rebuild the City of New Orleans at current pace.
Katrina Pain Index. (via Siege)
(2) Reuters: "Cuba said on Monday more than 90,000 houses were damaged or destroyed when Hurricane Gustav tore through the western province of Pinar del Rio on Saturday with 150-mile-per-hour (240-kph) winds." (via Ned Sublette)
(3) Residents of New Orleans who evacuated for Gustav won't be able to go home until tomorrow at the earliest (NOLA.com, via Ned Sublette).
