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*JimH*
 
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"Garth Almgren" wrote in message
...
Around 9/8/2005 1:35 PM, ed wrote:

Jim, that is amazing, very interesting article thanks for sharing.

Ed
"*JimH*" wrote in message
...

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

Written in 2004 before Katrina yet amazingly accurate on what actually
just happened.


Very interesting, and it is indeed an what turned out to be a highly
accurate prediction.

I think that pretty much puts to bed Bush's claim that "I don't think
anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."


--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows


Ah, the political trump card comes out.

If you insist on the blame game once again sigh...........


February 17, 1995

An Army Corps of Engineers "hit list" of recommended budget cuts would
eliminate new flood-control programs in some of the nation's most
flood-prone spots - where recent disasters have left thousands
homeless and cost the federal government millions in emergency aid.

Clinton administration officials argue that the flood-control efforts
are local projects, not national, and should be paid for by local
taxes.

Nationwide, the administration proposes cutting 98 new projects in 35
states and Puerto Rico, for an estimated savings of $29 million in
1996.

Corps officials freely conceded the cuts, which represent only a small
portion of savings the corps ultimately must make, may be penny-wise
and pound-foolish. But they said they were forced to eliminate some
services the corps has historically provided to taxpayers to meet the
administration's budget-cutting goals.

June 23, 1995

A hurricane project, approved and financed since 1965, to protect more
than 140,000 West Bank residents east of the Harvey Canal is in
jeopardy.

The Clinton administration is holding back a Corps of Engineers report
recommending that the $120 million project proceed. Unless that report
is forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress cannot
authorize money for the project, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's office
said Thursday.

On June 9, John Zirschky, the acting assistant secretary of the Army
and the official who refused to forward the report, sent a memo to the
corps, saying the recommendation for the project "is not consistent
with the policies and budget priorities reflected in the President's
Fiscal Year 1996 budget. Accordingly, I will not forward the report to
the Office of Management and Budget for clearance."

July 26, 1996

The House voted Thursday for a $19.4 billion energy and water bill
that provides $246 million for Army Corps of Engineers projects in
Louisiana.

The bill, approved 391-23, is the last of the 13 annual spending
measures for 1997 approved by the House.

One area in which the House approved more financing than the president
requested was for flood control and maintenance of harbors and
shipping routes by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Flood control projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries
were allotted $303 million, or $10 million more than the president
wanted.

June 19, 1996

The Army Corps of Engineers, which builds most flood protection levees
on a federal-local cost-sharing basis, uses a cost-benefit ratio to
justify a project. If the cost of building a levee is considered less
than the cost of restoring a flood-ravaged area, the project is more
likely to be approved.

For years, the Jean Lafitte-Lower Lafitte-Barataria-Crown Point areas
couldn't convince the corps they were worthy of levee protection. But
the use of Section 205 and congressional pressure has given the corps
a new perspective, Spohrer said.

But even so, when the Clinton administration began to curtail spending
on flood control and other projects a year ago, the corps stopped
spending on Section 205 projects even after deciding to do a $70,000
preliminary Jean Lafitte study, Spohrer said.

July 22, 1999

In passing a $20.2 billion spending bill this week for water and
energy projects, the House Appropriations Committee approved some
significant increases in financing for several New Orleans area flood
control and navigational projects.

The spending bill is expected on the House floor within the next two
weeks.

For the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the panel
allocated $106 million for construction projects, about $16 million
more than proposed by President Clinton.

The bill would provide $47 million for "southeast Louisiana flood
control projects," $16 million for "Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity
hurricane protection," $15.9 million for the Inner Harbor Navigation
Canal Lock on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans and $2 million for
"West Bank hurricane protection -- from New Orleans to Venice."

Most of the projects received significant increases over what the
Clinton administration had proposed. The exception: general flood
control projects for southeast Louisiana, which remained at the $47
million suggested by Clinton. Local officials had hoped for double
that amount."

From:

http://eurota.blogspot.com/2005/09/u...hed-every.html

And plenty before that. One section of the levy that broke was reportedly
rebuilt a few years back to Cat 5 specs.....where did that get us?

Too bad Kerry wasn't elected. I bet he would have been able to stop all
this. LOL!