KATRINA, ONE YEAR LATER

A year after the Gulf Coast was whacked by the aftermath of Katrina, the region has evolved from a riveting tragedy to a grinding experiment in public-private rebuilding. It is moving forward, slowly, but as each month passes, Americans cannot escape the feeling that no matter how much money is spent on reconstruction, an absence of skill and planning are as big an obstacle as flooded neighborhoods and ruined buildings.

In New Orleans, only half the pre-Katrina number of bus and streetcar routes are operating with only 17 percent of the number of buses and streetcars; only half the hospitals are open; and half the number of customers are using electric service. Most schools remain closed and only a quarter of child-care centers are open. Even as 190,000 fewer workers are employed in New Orleans now compared with 2005, unemployment is higher than a year ago.

The Brookings Institution has been keeping track of the progress in the region, and one of the more interesting comparisons is between six months ago and now. In areas such as employment and labor force size, utilities and attractions such as the number of open restaurants, progress seems to have nearly stopped. Two exceptions to this are the Louis Armstrong International Airport, where arrivals and departures are up nearly 50 percent from six months ago, and the housing market, which is beginning to re-emerge.

But while no one thought the region could be rebuilt in a year, the slowing pace of progress is a warning sign that more trouble is ahead. Approximately $109 billion in government aid has reached the Gulf Coast region and certainly much more will be needed in the future. Watching that money closely is in every state’s interest because they may be the next victim of a disaster and need similar resources.

In addition to the money, one of the demands for rebuilding might be to persuade a high-profile leader from the private sector who will take charge and responsibility for keeping the reconstruction moving – a developer of the sort that has taken charge in recent run-ups to the Olympics for host cities.

One year isn’t long enough to draw conclusions about what the Gulf region will look like a decade or more from now, but it is long enough to see how much more work must be done on the nation’s ability to respond to disasters and rebuild once they have passed.