1. Virtual Volunteers: Hurricane
Katrina’s Impact and Women’s
Resolve
Tara L. Conley
MA Candidate in Women’s Studies
Texas Woman’s University
2007

2. Research Synopsis
 Research focuses on hurricane Katrina networking relief blogs,
newsgroups, and Internet forums that are operated and utilized
mainly by women and single mothers in search of assistance for
their families.
 Virtual spaces as fascinating pieces of historical evidence that
reveal not only the horrific impact of hurricane Katrina, but
also the ineffectiveness of government-sponsored assistant
programs like TANF and FEMA.
 Focuses on Katrina survivors, specifically single mothers, and
how they have found ways and means beyond government
assistance. If anything, these networking forums provide a
place where women can connect with other women and
families.

3. Questions To Consider
 How has the impact of hurricane Katrina contributed to
grassroots organizing such as virtual volunteerism—a new(er)
form of activism?
 How have FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and
TANF (Temporary Assistance For Needy Families) contributed
to aiding survivors, post-Katrina?
 What motivates Katrina survivors, particularly women and
single mothers, to seek assistance beyond FEMA and TANF?
 What are the various types of new communication tools being
used by Katrina survivors (single mothers)?
 Where do we go from here?

4. Enter Katrina
 Hurricane Katrina (a category 5 storm) hits land on August 29, 2005
 Approximately 15 million people were affected by the storm due to economic
hardships, evacuations, gas prices, and drinking water contamination. (
www.hurricanekatrinarelief.com)
 According to the Grassley-Baucus Bill, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama
(the only states included in the New TANF Bill providing emergency funds)
are described as “direct impact states”.
 An estimated 400,000 jobs were lost, leaving the Gulf Coast region in crisis.
(www.hurricanekatrinarelief.com)
 Estimated death tolls vary, but exceeds 1,000.
 As of August 2007, approximately $8.3 billion federal has been spent for
Katrina rebuilding efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (not
including the private sector and international contributions). (www.fema.gov )

5. Federal, State, and Local Response?
According to The House Committee Report: A Failure of
Initiative ”the following contributed to a lack of effective
response:
 Secretary Michael Chertoff acted,
“late, ineffectively, or not at all”.
 “The White House failed to de-
conflict varying damage assessments
and discounted information that
ultimately proved accurate.”
 Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin
“delayed ordering a mandatory
evacuation in New Orleans until 19
hours before landfall”.
• FEMA is singled out in the report as
“a serious troubled and unprepared
agency”.

6. Post-Katrina Problems Linger On…
FEMA and TANF contributions to Katrina survivors
after the storm
FEMA TANF
“[I]t is very unclear whether H.R. 3672, the TANF Emergency Response and
Recovery Act of 200:
FEMA has any plans in place to provide
ongoing assistance beyond the next month or
 Provides assistance to families affected by
two. The needs of hundreds of thousands of
hurricane Katrina through the Temporary
people will likely endure for a much longer Assistance for Needy Families. Signed into
period than that. FEMA has never law by President Bush on September 21, 2005.
administered a program of this nature for
such a large number of people who are spread  Funds (*in the form of loans) provided:
over such a large geographic area and who are
 Alabama ($18.7 million)
likely to remain displaced for such a long
period of time. Whether FEMA is up to such  Louisiana ($32.8 million)
a task for a period beyond the initial weeks is  Mississippi ($17.4 million)
unclear” (Greenstein, October 2005)
*states are not require to pay interest on, or repay
loans

7. More on FEMA contributions
(One Year After Katrina)
 FEMA sheltered Katrina survivors nationwide in 85,000 hotel rooms, pending
transition to longer-term sheltering.
 $650 million FEMA paid for hotel and motel rooms for Katrina evacuees nationwide.
 $890.9 million paid in assistance to Katrina evacuees from Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana currently listing a Texas address.
 Overall, FEMA has paid $4.2 billion for housing assistance to 950,000 applicants for
housing assistance
 $1.3 billion to 550,000 applicants in Louisiana and Mississippi for homes that were
inaccessible to inspectors due to extensive flooding.
www.fema.gov

8. Survivors Find Ways and Means
Beyond FEMA and TANF
 Women and single mothers account
for a large portion of grassroots
organizing on the Internet. Single
mothers and families continue to
benefit from virtual volunteering.
 3 Major Categories of Katrina-
related virtual volunteering on the
Internet
 Blogs
 Forums/Groups
 Newsgroups and Websites

9. Motivations?
What motivates women and single mothers to organize and find ways and
means beyond government assistance?
• Direct impact of hurricane Katrina
• Lack of preparedness and long-term support from local,
state, and federal government
3. Gender roles and expectations of women
4. Technological advancements and Internet access

10. Katrina Blogs
Real People Relief
http://realpeoplerelief.blogspot.com/
“Real People Relief is for individuals, families and groups who wish to help a person or family
directly, with no ‘middle man.’” –Leslie, Blog Moderator

11. Katrina
Forums/Groups
Katrina Angels Action Forum
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KatrinasAngelsinActionForum/
• “Katrina's Angels offers resource coordination to communities affected by natural disasters
such as hurricanes and tornadoes. This forum was created to provide information in a timely
manner and to list events supporting relief and rebuilding efforts around the United States.”
Janet Arp, Moderator

12. Katrina
Newsgroups/Websites
Beyond Katrina
www.hurricane-katrina.org
• “To inspire recovery, transformation & new vision through the deeper wisdom of crisis.”
Margaret Saizan, publisher.
Hurricane Katrina Relief
www.hurricanekatrinarelief.com
• “created to be a permanent source of information about Hurricane Katrina, emergency
preparation, and more.” Brian Kurpis, founder.

13. Where Do We Go From Here?
 The need for ongoing research on how the Internet is helping/aiding Katrina
survivors overtime.
 Can/will these virtual sources exhaust themselves over time? If possible, how might we
work to prevent possible extinction? How can these virtual spaces continue to evolve?
 Researchers and scholars need to continue to specifically focus on how low-income
families and women of color are being helped and helping others with relief efforts
via the Internet.
 Lack of accessibility and workable knowledge to/of the Internet?
 The majority of displaced survivors I worked with and volunteered for are African-
American women and families.
 How might other low-income families and families of color benefit from virtual
volunteering?
 Continue researching how many sites are run by women of color, including single
mothers—and if these Internet sources are also being acknowledged, accessed, and
utilized in the same way the sources I focused on.
 Other blogs by women of color: http://brownfemipower.com/?cat=19