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Replies to '08/28 Hurricane Katrina: One Year Later'
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August 27, 2006, 11:24 pm PDT
 Quote From: flthomcat LA got more federal monies than any other state! The monies were SUPPOSED to go to the levee system. It is well known that LA state and local govt is the most corrupt in the nation. The money was there; it was poorly spent and I would suspect put into the pockets of thieves in suits.
New Orleans was built on a swamp (yes, wet land). Why on Earth we built there is a mystery (or perhaps it has to do with man's arrogance when thinking that he can beat mother nature)? And on top of the geographical and mechanical problems, we have people who thought they would stay instead of evacuate even when they knew WAY in advance that the hurricane would be at least a Catagory 3 storm. Then you add state and local leaders who didn't bother to MAKE people leave (but allowed all those school busses to fill with water!) along with a disorganized and pathetic FEMA organization AND you now have a major catastrophe!
All of this created HUGE problems that the Army Corps of Engineers had NOTHING to do with!!!
Until we start placing the blame where it is due... true, postiive, lasting change won't take place! I am a New Orleans native - Lakeview to be specific. Mine was one of thousands of homes that was flooded with 8 feet of sewage for 3 weeks.
The Army Corps of Engineers has plenty to answer for. More than 50 years of poor levee design & construction were tantamount to their failure. We were assured & reassured by the Corps that the levees could withstand a Cat 3 storm. Katrina grazed us, giving us low-to-mid Cat 2 winds & tidal surge, & the levees tumbled like dominoes....
The Corps' attitude can be summed up in YOUR statement, "man's arrogance when thinking that he can beat mother nature". My father worked for the NO Sewage & Water Board for more than 4 decades. Whenever a levee was built/altered or a new pumping station installed, the Corps did the labor. At almost every planning meeting, a Corps representative would express that the only reason that they had to meet with the S&WB was because it was mandated by law, & that they didn't even have to consider what the S&WB had to say.. He was even told by one Corps rep that "We are God when it comes down to building levees". Arrogance, indeed...
Several communities throughout the US are built on wetlands (see the Upper Mississippi River Basin flood of May-August 1993) & other precarious materials (hello, major sections of San Francisco are built on the wreckage of the 1906 earthquake). Not the best ideas, granted, but they are what they are. One of the major problems with LA is that, in addition to the Florida Everglades, it is not beach, but swamp guarding our coastline. And the Corps is responsible for a great deal of the wetland destruction that has occurred.
LA politics is corrupt - no doubt about it. Am I sick that Ray Nagin was re-elected? You bet, I am. Did I think our governor was a nice lady but a poor leader even before Katrina & Rita? Oh, yeah. Did "LA get more federal monies than any other state"? Can't find that particular piece of data, but what I do know is this: of all the total petroleum that is produced in the US, 28% is drilled off the LA coastline, & 10% of all US refining takes place in LA. So, how is it that LA reaps LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of the revenues generated from this process? Hmmm, the feds giveth, & the feds taketh away...
Ever wonder why you're paying so much for a gallon of gas? And, how much are you paying these days for bananas? Grapes? Lettuce? Imported goods & products (furniture, fixtures, clothing), especially from South & Central America? Remember, New Orleans is also a major US port city. I don't think most Americans realize that...
I am absolutely heartsick for other areas that were devastated by Katrina - charming communities in LA (Buras, Tidewater, Boothville, Port Sulphur) & MS (Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Waveland). In addition, the communities of SW LA were struck to the core by Rita (Cameron, Holly Beach, Hackberry, Sulphur). They definitely need & deserve every bit of attention & assistance that can possibly be obtained...
New Orleans gets all the press because it was a major US city & tourist destination, & when the chips were down, our leaders folded like a house of cards, from the President all the way down to the Mayor & City Council. Oh, there's plenty of blame to go around. And, they continue to founder. New Orleans & most of the areas that were affected by Katrina & Rita are still a shambles. America blew it.
But Americans didn't. If there's one thing that I know for sure from this experience, it's that our country is filled with kind & giving citizens - people that will literally give you the shirt off their backs if it will help ease your suffering.
Well, kind people of America, I have just one thing to ask of you - please, PLEASE, contact your elected officials & tell them to restore & protect the precious wetlands of Louisiana. Had the wetlands been intact, the impact of Katrina would have been sharply blunted. The feds screwed up our wetlands up, the feds should fix them.
Ok, stepping off my soapbox... |
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August 29, 2006, 12:05 pm PDT
Quote From: flthomcat LA got more federal monies than any other state! The monies were SUPPOSED to go to the levee system. It is well known that LA state and local govt is the most corrupt in the nation. The money was there; it was poorly spent and I would suspect put into the pockets of thieves in suits.
New Orleans was built on a swamp (yes, wet land). Why on Earth we built there is a mystery (or perhaps it has to do with man's arrogance when thinking that he can beat mother nature)? And on top of the geographical and mechanical problems, we have people who thought they would stay instead of evacuate even when they knew WAY in advance that the hurricane would be at least a Catagory 3 storm. Then you add state and local leaders who didn't bother to MAKE people leave (but allowed all those school busses to fill with water!) along with a disorganized and pathetic FEMA organization AND you now have a major catastrophe!
All of this created HUGE problems that the Army Corps of Engineers had NOTHING to do with!!!
Until we start placing the blame where it is due... true, postiive, lasting change won't take place! The Army Corps of Engineers didn't build the levees correct in the first place, read their own omission of guilt, what a tragedy! |
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