Hurricane Katrina

Not since the Dust Bowl have so many moved so far

11:48 AM CDT on Sunday, September 11, 2005

From Wire Reports

In a country where movements of tired, poor and huddled masses are an intrinsic part, the unprecedented mass exodus of people from their homes on the Gulf Coast – more than half a million people – could unleash changes for years.

"We're looking at an event of enormous political and historical importance," said Steven Hahn, a University of Pennsylvania historian.

"It's likely to have an enormous impact on our entire country," he said.

Although many expect New Orleans to rebuild, some who lived there say they will never go back. Marked forever by the storm that forced their exodus, they vow to build new lives in unfamiliar places.

Experts say there are lessons to be drawn from historic moves.

For example, New Orleans-style neighborhoods may develop in larger cities with restaurants, music and cultural aspects of home. Racial and social tensions may also emerge, as thousands of people move into less-diverse neighborhoods.

"If you have mass numbers going to one place, you're going to have the same tensions you have with any immigrants," said Phillip Gay, sociology professor at San Diego State University. "But if you distribute them in smaller groups, there's a better chance they can settle."

In 1980, at least 125,000 Cubans came to Miami in boats. The resulting social service burden was enormous, and eventually the federal government paid Florida $370 million in emergency assistance to help defray the costs of such a large, irregular migration.

Last week in Texas, authorities were overwhelmed by food stamp applications – 26,000 in four days. Elsewhere in the country, communities taking in Gulf Coast evacuees by the thousands worried about taxing social programs that in many cases already were stretched thin.

When large numbers of people from one culture have moved – by force or by choice – into a new community, there is "real friction and real problems," said Robert Wheelersburg, an anthropology professor at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

While thousands are being welcomed with warm meals and new clothes around the country, Mr. Wheelersburg said, it is only a matter of time before some tensions emerge.

"It could create some real cultural problems moving people to different parts of the country," he said. "New Orleans was very unique. There are many places that aren't so diverse."

The size of the migration forced by Katrina is mind-boggling. Not since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s have so many Americans been on the move because of a single event.

New Mexico – with a black population of barely 3 percent – has tried to make the exiled residents of New Orleans feel at home.

"This is almost like the exodus of Moses," said the Rev. Calvin Robinson, a counselor at an Albuquerque soul food kitchen. "These people have left everything behind."

Some evacuees have already found jobs in Utah, which has a black population of less than 1 percent, and say they intend to stay.

"I didn't have a clue where they were taking us," said Reginald Allen, outside his temporary home at Camp Williams. "When they told us it was Utah, I just said: 'Well, it's a change. I gotta adapt.' And now I got a job, and I plan to make this my home. I think I could be a cold-weather guy.' "