Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says the state is now “stronger than ever.”
In a statement published to his Facebook account, the presidential candidate said the state community was brought to its knees after the storm and rebuilding became the only option.
“The storm forced us not just to rebuild, but to improve, so we cracked down on long-standing corruption, passed critical education reforms, and made our state a better place for people and businesses alike,” he said in the statement. “The story of the New Orleans and Louisiana comeback is proof once again that the American people can do anything they put their minds to.”
Jindal was also tweeting part of his statement Saturday morning, writing, “Louisiana has come back from the storm stronger than ever.”
At the time of Hurricane Katrina, Jindal was representing Lousiana in the House of Representatives.
Speaking in New Orleans Thursday, President Barack Obama said that racial and economic injustices haven’t decreased since the storm.
“Our work here won’t be done when almost 40% of children still live in poverty in this city. That’s not a finished job. That’s not a full recovery,” he said.
On Thursday, Jindal sent an open letter to Obama that was published to his website citing improvements in New Orleans since the tragedy, saying that “more people are living and working in Louisiana than at any other time in the State’s history.”
But despite Jindal’s statement about Louisiana, Americans do not believe the country has earned its lesson from the hurricane and is not prepared for future natural disasters.
A CNN/ORC poll released Friday finds 51% of Americans believe the country is just as vulnerable to natural disasters as it was in 2005 and 59% don’t see much positive in the aftermath and recovery of the hurricane.
