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Ann Rice, you whine too much...
We Failed You? Try Again.
Jim Geraghty - National Review New Orleans novelist, Anne Rice, blames America, not local officials.. "To my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. Youlooked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs." - novelist and New Orleans resident Anne Rice Let me get this straight. Ms. Rice, you live in (what was) a very attractive city which lies below sea level. On one side you have a giant lake; on the other side you have the Gulf of Mexico. Running through the middle is the Mississippi River. All of which are above you. Preventing those giant bodies of water from flooding and drowning you are levees. These levees are described as "century-old." People have been warning about the devastating effects of a direct hit from a hurricane for decades. I've heard a great deal of complaint in recent days that the federal government may not ha! ve allocated enough money to speed up the upgrades to those levees. This does, however, raise the question of why city and state residents were waiting around for the federal government to send enough money to upgrade this, instead of paying for it themselves. I mean, it was only your homes, businesses, and lives at stake. Perhaps these upgrades would have been expensive. If only this city had some sort of events to attract tourists, from which to collect taxes! Anyway, your state and local officials decided to spend your tax dollars on something else that they (and presumably you) found more important, and then they waited for the rest of the country to pay for these life-preserving necessities. Your beloved city and region has a colorful political history, in which there is, oh, a wee bit of corruption. I'm from New Jersey, so can't throw stones at that glass house. But you guys have managed to pick leaders who give you the worst of both worlds - they're scandal ridden and incompetent in a crisis. Look, Rudy Giuliani might have run around with Judith Nathan before his divorce, but he was a hell of a leader in our darkest hours. You know the National Review crowd isn't a fan of Pataki, but the man was a rock after 9/11 compared to Governor Weepy I'll-Evacuate-Eventually and Mayor It's-Everybody's-Fault-Except-Mine. Nobody's throwing around the adjective "Churchillian" about any of your officials these days. We didn't pick your local officials; you guys did. Rice asks, "how many times did Gov. Kathleen Blanco have to say that the situation was desperate? How many times did Mayor Ray Nagin have to call for aid?" Ahem. What about those buses left unused, less than a mile from the Superdome? JunkYardBlog notes that it's written in the Southeast Louisiana Evacuation Plan that buses are supposed to be used for evacuation of those who don't have personal vehicles. As JYB observes, "there is something very peculiar about a city and a state that have a plan on the books for years that outlines what to do when a hurricane is about to strike, yet when a hurricane comes roaring in, the responsible officials just chuck the plan and try winging it. Delaying and then winging it in the face of a monstrous Cat 4/5 hurricane is never, ever a good idea, especially for New Orleans." (See more here.) Ironically, Nagin told CNN, "I need buses, man," when he had plenty sitting around unused before the storm hit. Now they're floo! ded and useless. But it's not like state and local officials could have seen this coming. They have never had a hurricane bearing down on them before and oh, wait, there was Hurricane Ivan just last year. And after that dodged bullet, Blanco and Nagin both acknowledged they needed a better evacuation plan. I would note that we've seen some pretty intense disasters in other parts of the country, like planes crashing into skyscrapers and subsequently collapsing, earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, and yet somehow, none of these disasters had the total breakdown of law and order, civil society, etc. Jonah Goldberg's early joke about a Mad-Max style post-apocalyptic tribal anarchy may have been in poor taste, but it has turned out to be nightmarishly prescient. We failed you? No, oh brilliant creator of Exit to Eden, you failed. You might not think of it this way, but: Your leaders failed to upgrade the levees. You elected a bunch of weepers and blame-shifters who lost their head in a crisis. Over the past decades, your elected officials have let a criminal element incubate and grow until they ruled the streets, instead of the forces of law and order. In pop culture, a New Orleans thief is always a charming rogue with a devilish smile. In reality, they're a bunch of thugs. If the number of residents who are looting thugs were such a "tiny minority," we wouldn't have seen this widespread, relentless anarchy. Madam, a noticeable number of your neighbors saw this disaster as an opportunity to smash a window and run away with a television, an act that reveals much about the inadequacies of the local school system, since that thief won't be enjoying that television with any electricity anytime soon. I would also note that this is one hell of a police force your local officials hired and that you and your neighbors tolerated. 50 percent turned in their badges during the crisis and quit. Your police superintendent is conceding that some cops were looting. Just want to refresh your memory - four years ago, New York and Washington, planes falling out of the sky, thousands dead, no idea what the hell is coming next and the cops, among others, showed up to work. To save you guys now, I - and a lot of other Americans - will pitch in. We are witnessing the biggest mobilization of civilian and military rescue and relief crews in history. But I have a sneaking suspicion you're going to want the rest of us to pay for the rebuilding of your city. (In the near future, we're going to have to have a little chat about the wisdom of building below sea level, directly next to large bodies of water.) And if you're going to come to the rest of us hat in hand, demanding the rest of us clean up after your poor judgment, I'd appreciate a little less "you failed us" and a little more "we've learned our lesson." |
Tim wrote: We Failed You? Try Again. That whole diatribe was nothing more than a long winded whine in and of itself. |
Tim, could you post the URL for this? It's great.
The truth *will* out! On 28 Sep 2005 04:31:06 -0700, "Tim" wrote: We Failed You? Try Again. Jim Geraghty - National Review New Orleans novelist, Anne Rice, blames America, not local officials.. "To my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. Youlooked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs." - novelist and New Orleans resident Anne Rice Let me get this straight. Ms. Rice, you live in (what was) a very attractive city which lies below sea level. On one side you have a giant lake; on the other side you have the Gulf of Mexico. Running through the middle is the Mississippi River. All of which are above you. Preventing those giant bodies of water from flooding and drowning you are levees. These levees are described as "century-old." People have been warning about the devastating effects of a direct hit from a hurricane for decades. I've heard a great deal of complaint in recent days that the federal government may not ha! ve allocated enough money to speed up the upgrades to those levees. This does, however, raise the question of why city and state residents were waiting around for the federal government to send enough money to upgrade this, instead of paying for it themselves. I mean, it was only your homes, businesses, and lives at stake. Perhaps these upgrades would have been expensive. If only this city had some sort of events to attract tourists, from which to collect taxes! Anyway, your state and local officials decided to spend your tax dollars on something else that they (and presumably you) found more important, and then they waited for the rest of the country to pay for these life-preserving necessities. Your beloved city and region has a colorful political history, in which there is, oh, a wee bit of corruption. I'm from New Jersey, so can't throw stones at that glass house. But you guys have managed to pick leaders who give you the worst of both worlds - they're scandal ridden and incompetent in a crisis. Look, Rudy Giuliani might have run around with Judith Nathan before his divorce, but he was a hell of a leader in our darkest hours. You know the National Review crowd isn't a fan of Pataki, but the man was a rock after 9/11 compared to Governor Weepy I'll-Evacuate-Eventually and Mayor It's-Everybody's-Fault-Except-Mine. Nobody's throwing around the adjective "Churchillian" about any of your officials these days. We didn't pick your local officials; you guys did. Rice asks, "how many times did Gov. Kathleen Blanco have to say that the situation was desperate? How many times did Mayor Ray Nagin have to call for aid?" Ahem. What about those buses left unused, less than a mile from the Superdome? JunkYardBlog notes that it's written in the Southeast Louisiana Evacuation Plan that buses are supposed to be used for evacuation of those who don't have personal vehicles. As JYB observes, "there is something very peculiar about a city and a state that have a plan on the books for years that outlines what to do when a hurricane is about to strike, yet when a hurricane comes roaring in, the responsible officials just chuck the plan and try winging it. Delaying and then winging it in the face of a monstrous Cat 4/5 hurricane is never, ever a good idea, especially for New Orleans." (See more here.) Ironically, Nagin told CNN, "I need buses, man," when he had plenty sitting around unused before the storm hit. Now they're floo! ded and useless. But it's not like state and local officials could have seen this coming. They have never had a hurricane bearing down on them before and oh, wait, there was Hurricane Ivan just last year. And after that dodged bullet, Blanco and Nagin both acknowledged they needed a better evacuation plan. I would note that we've seen some pretty intense disasters in other parts of the country, like planes crashing into skyscrapers and subsequently collapsing, earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, and yet somehow, none of these disasters had the total breakdown of law and order, civil society, etc. Jonah Goldberg's early joke about a Mad-Max style post-apocalyptic tribal anarchy may have been in poor taste, but it has turned out to be nightmarishly prescient. We failed you? No, oh brilliant creator of Exit to Eden, you failed. You might not think of it this way, but: Your leaders failed to upgrade the levees. You elected a bunch of weepers and blame-shifters who lost their head in a crisis. Over the past decades, your elected officials have let a criminal element incubate and grow until they ruled the streets, instead of the forces of law and order. In pop culture, a New Orleans thief is always a charming rogue with a devilish smile. In reality, they're a bunch of thugs. If the number of residents who are looting thugs were such a "tiny minority," we wouldn't have seen this widespread, relentless anarchy. Madam, a noticeable number of your neighbors saw this disaster as an opportunity to smash a window and run away with a television, an act that reveals much about the inadequacies of the local school system, since that thief won't be enjoying that television with any electricity anytime soon. I would also note that this is one hell of a police force your local officials hired and that you and your neighbors tolerated. 50 percent turned in their badges during the crisis and quit. Your police superintendent is conceding that some cops were looting. Just want to refresh your memory - four years ago, New York and Washington, planes falling out of the sky, thousands dead, no idea what the hell is coming next and the cops, among others, showed up to work. To save you guys now, I - and a lot of other Americans - will pitch in. We are witnessing the biggest mobilization of civilian and military rescue and relief crews in history. But I have a sneaking suspicion you're going to want the rest of us to pay for the rebuilding of your city. (In the near future, we're going to have to have a little chat about the wisdom of building below sea level, directly next to large bodies of water.) And if you're going to come to the rest of us hat in hand, demanding the rest of us clean up after your poor judgment, I'd appreciate a little less "you failed us" and a little more "we've learned our lesson." -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
I've heard a great deal of complaint in recent days that the federal government may not ha! ve allocated enough money to speed up the upgrades to those levees. This does, however, raise the question of why city and state residents were waiting around for the federal government to send enough money to upgrade this, instead of paying for it themselves. Because it's under Federal jurisdiction and the Corps of Engineers won't let them? Because the Federal gummint takes sucha huge chunk out of everybody;s income in taxes that they don't have enough left in local budgets to pay hundreds of millions for levee construction? .... you guys have managed to pick leaders who give you the worst of both worlds - they're scandal ridden and incompetent in a crisis. Ahem. What about those buses left unused, less than a mile from the Superdome? We failed you? No, oh brilliant creator of Exit to Eden, you failed. You might not think of it this way, but: Your leaders failed to upgrade the levees. You elected a bunch of weepers and blame-shifters who lost their head in a crisis. Who exactly is playing "the blame game" here? Is it the ones who cannot stand to have any criticism of Bush, Cheney, or that matter, Halliburton, aired publicly? .... I'd appreciate a little less "you failed us" and a little more "we've learned our lesson." So would I. Maybe President Bush's staff, who literally spent days *after* the hurricane arguing among themselves to decide who would be the 'bearer of bad news' and suggest to the President that he end his vacation early, could answer some of these questions. DSK |
"DSK" wrote in message ... Because the Federal gummint takes sucha huge chunk out of everybody;s income in taxes that they don't have enough left in local budgets to pay hundreds of millions for levee construction? Doug, You are making an excellent argument for less Federal taxes. If the Fed's were not taxing New Orleans so heavily, New Orleans would have been able to allocate the taxes in a way that would benefit the locals best. You are not alone in your viewpoint, there are many people who feel the Federal Goverment taxes people too heavily and do a poor job of allocating the money back to state and local goverments. To be honest, I just didn't think you realized the fallacy of the ...."the Federal gummint takes sucha huge chunk out of everybody;s income in taxes that they don't have enough left in local budgets to pay hundreds of millions for levee construction?" .... you guys have managed to pick leaders who give you the worst of both worlds - they're scandal ridden and incompetent in a crisis. Ahem. What about those buses left unused, less than a mile from the Superdome? We failed you? No, oh brilliant creator of Exit to Eden, you failed. You might not think of it this way, but: Your leaders failed to upgrade the levees. You elected a bunch of weepers and blame-shifters who lost their head in a crisis. Who exactly is playing "the blame game" here? Is it the ones who cannot stand to have any criticism of Bush, Cheney, or that matter, Halliburton, aired publicly? .... I'd appreciate a little less "you failed us" and a little more "we've learned our lesson." So would I. Maybe President Bush's staff, who literally spent days *after* the hurricane arguing among themselves to decide who would be the 'bearer of bad news' and suggest to the President that he end his vacation early, could answer some of these questions. DSK |
Starbuck wrote:
You are making an excellent argument for less Federal taxes. Sure. President Bush himself often says "It's *your* money." So why aren't taxes lower? Why isn't the Federal gummint shrinking? Why is the national debt ballooning to levels that would have the IMF and World Bank cutting off any 3rd world country's credit line? What do you think is going to happen when oil is more expensive than ever, and Uncle Sam's credit cards are maxed out, and the administration that's broken promises, broken Iraq, left us less capable of protecting ourselves, less capable of defending ourselves, and with fewer constitutional rights... and not only that, *still* hasn't outlawed abortion or gay marriage like it's 'base' wants... DSK |
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PocoLoco wrote: Tim, could you post the URL for this? It's great. The truth *will* out! Sure! http://www.nationalreview.com/geragh...0509070826.asp |
Doug,
I personally am not going to vote for Bush again. "DSK" wrote in message ... Starbuck wrote: You are making an excellent argument for less Federal taxes. Sure. President Bush himself often says "It's *your* money." So why aren't taxes lower? Why isn't the Federal gummint shrinking? Why is the national debt ballooning to levels that would have the IMF and World Bank cutting off any 3rd world country's credit line? What do you think is going to happen when oil is more expensive than ever, and Uncle Sam's credit cards are maxed out, and the administration that's broken promises, broken Iraq, left us less capable of protecting ourselves, less capable of defending ourselves, and with fewer constitutional rights... and not only that, *still* hasn't outlawed abortion or gay marriage like it's 'base' wants... DSK |
... Uncle Sam's credit cards are maxed out, and the administration
that's broken promises, broken Iraq, left us less capable of protecting ourselves, less capable of defending ourselves, and with fewer constitutional rights... and not only that, *still* hasn't outlawed abortion or gay marriage like it's 'base' wants... Starbuck wrote: Doug, I personally am not going to vote for Bush again. If you voted for him even once, then you were badly fooled. He revealed his true colors long ago. DSK |
I'll state the same, I will not vote for George W. Bush for elected office
ever again. "Starbuck" wrote in message ... Doug, I personally am not going to vote for Bush again. "DSK" wrote in message ... Starbuck wrote: You are making an excellent argument for less Federal taxes. Sure. President Bush himself often says "It's *your* money." So why aren't taxes lower? Why isn't the Federal gummint shrinking? Why is the national debt ballooning to levels that would have the IMF and World Bank cutting off any 3rd world country's credit line? What do you think is going to happen when oil is more expensive than ever, and Uncle Sam's credit cards are maxed out, and the administration that's broken promises, broken Iraq, left us less capable of protecting ourselves, less capable of defending ourselves, and with fewer constitutional rights... and not only that, *still* hasn't outlawed abortion or gay marriage like it's 'base' wants... DSK |
"DSK" wrote in message ... ... Uncle Sam's credit cards are maxed out, and the administration that's broken promises, broken Iraq, left us less capable of protecting ourselves, less capable of defending ourselves, and with fewer constitutional rights... and not only that, *still* hasn't outlawed abortion or gay marriage like it's 'base' wants... Starbuck wrote: Doug, I personally am not going to vote for Bush again. If you voted for him even once, then you were badly fooled. He revealed his true colors long ago. A truer statemen of any and all politicians has never been made. |
On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 08:52:45 -0400, DSK wrote:
I've heard a great deal of complaint in recent days that the federal government may not ha! ve allocated enough money to speed up the upgrades to those levees. This does, however, raise the question of why city and state residents were waiting around for the federal government to send enough money to upgrade this, instead of paying for it themselves. Because it's under Federal jurisdiction and the Corps of Engineers won't let them? Because the Federal gummint takes sucha huge chunk out of everybody;s income in taxes that they don't have enough left in local budgets to pay hundreds of millions for levee construction? From where do you get the idea that the Corps was responsible for the levees that failed? The ones that failed were not on intracoastal waterways. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
On 28 Sep 2005 10:55:48 -0700, "Tim" wrote:
PocoLoco wrote: Tim, could you post the URL for this? It's great. The truth *will* out! Sure! http://www.nationalreview.com/geragh...0509070826.asp Thanks Tim. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 08:52:45 -0400, DSK wrote:
I've heard a great deal of complaint in recent days that the federal government may not ha! ve allocated enough money to speed up the upgrades to those levees. This does, however, raise the question of why city and state residents were waiting around for the federal government to send enough money to upgrade this, instead of paying for it themselves. Because it's under Federal jurisdiction and the Corps of Engineers won't let them? Because the Federal gummint takes sucha huge chunk out of everybody;s income in taxes that they don't have enough left in local budgets to pay hundreds of millions for levee construction? .... you guys have managed to pick leaders who give you the worst of both worlds - they're scandal ridden and incompetent in a crisis. Ahem. What about those buses left unused, less than a mile from the Superdome? We failed you? No, oh brilliant creator of Exit to Eden, you failed. You might not think of it this way, but: Your leaders failed to upgrade the levees. You elected a bunch of weepers and blame-shifters who lost their head in a crisis. Who exactly is playing "the blame game" here? Is it the ones who cannot stand to have any criticism of Bush, Cheney, or that matter, Halliburton, aired publicly? .... I'd appreciate a little less "you failed us" and a little more "we've learned our lesson." So would I. Maybe President Bush's staff, who literally spent days *after* the hurricane arguing among themselves to decide who would be the 'bearer of bad news' and suggest to the President that he end his vacation early, could answer some of these questions. DSK Doug, maybe you should read this before you start throwing stones at the Corps of Engineers. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9342186/ Of course, it won't support your bs propaganda, but it *is* interesting. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
... maybe you should read this before you start throwing stones at the Corps
of Engineers. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9342186/ Of course, it won't support your bs propaganda, but it *is* interesting. ** ** ** quote ** ** ** "They misspent the money," says Billy Nungesser, a former top Republican official ** ** ** end quote ** ** ** Now, why is it no surprise to see this 100% partisan blaming going on? DSK |
On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 18:51:35 -0400, DSK wrote:
... maybe you should read this before you start throwing stones at the Corps of Engineers. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9342186/ Of course, it won't support your bs propaganda, but it *is* interesting. ** ** ** quote ** ** ** "They misspent the money," says Billy Nungesser, a former top Republican official ** ** ** end quote ** ** ** Now, why is it no surprise to see this 100% partisan blaming going on? DSK You quote one line from the article? Did you read the rest? -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
Now, why is it no surprise to see this 100% partisan blaming going on?
So now partisanship is a sin? Why is it that you alwaysheard the "Bi-partisan" was something un-holy? ok.."partisan blaming going on?" Guess thats what you call it when what ever the subject, from 9/11 to New Orleans, and anything in between, "It's ALL Bush's fault" Now THAT'S "partisan blaming!" |
Tim wrote:
Guess thats what you call it when what ever the subject, from 9/11 to New Orleans, and anything in between, "It's ALL Bush's fault" Actually, I haven't heard very much of that, except from Bush-Cheney apologists trying to score a point by pretending. Now THAT'S "partisan blaming!" And you think it's a good thing? DSK |
Now THAT'S "partisan blaming!"
And you think it's a good thing? Ok, which IS good and which is bad?? Partisanship? or bi-partisanship? I've heard 'em both. |
... Uncle Sam's credit cards are maxed out,
heck, it's been overdrawn since FDR.. so, whats new? |
PocoLoco wrote: From where do you get the idea that the Corps was responsible for the levees that failed? The ones that failed were not on intracoastal waterways. -- John H Doesn't matter, the Army Corp of Engineers builds more levees than just what's on the ICW. They build and maintain almost all the levees around N.O. on a federal-local cost-sharing basis. |
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While the Corps does not build levees it often lets the contracts for levee
construction and generally supplies the specs. Flood control levees are often Corps levees. If the Corps lets the contract Corps inspectors have the job of ensuring the specs are followed. However, there is an important piece of information to consider. The Corps is seldom responsible for maintenance of levees except for ICW levees. In a prvious life I drafted all the letters to communities regarding the outcome of levee maintenance inspections conducted by Corps personnel. Almost without exception communities failed to maintain levees in good operating condition. But, at least they were duely informed that the levees were subject to failure and/or leakage at water levels below design due to poor to nonexistant maintenance. A lot of folks don't realise that the US Army Corps of Engineers are good guys who provide a lot of help to communities and who help fight floods when they come. Butch "PocoLoco" wrote in message ... On 29 Sep 2005 09:56:30 -0700, wrote: PocoLoco wrote: From where do you get the idea that the Corps was responsible for the levees that failed? The ones that failed were not on intracoastal waterways. -- John H Doesn't matter, the Army Corp of Engineers builds more levees than just what's on the ICW. They build and maintain almost all the levees around N.O. on a federal-local cost-sharing basis. Building a levee and being responsible for a levee are two different things. Show me that the Corps built the canal walls that failed, or that they were responsible for any levees that failed. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 23:04:06 GMT, "Butch Davis" wrote:
While the Corps does not build levees it often lets the contracts for levee construction and generally supplies the specs. Flood control levees are often Corps levees. If the Corps lets the contract Corps inspectors have the job of ensuring the specs are followed. However, there is an important piece of information to consider. The Corps is seldom responsible for maintenance of levees except for ICW levees. In a prvious life I drafted all the letters to communities regarding the outcome of levee maintenance inspections conducted by Corps personnel. Almost without exception communities failed to maintain levees in good operating condition. But, at least they were duely informed that the levees were subject to failure and/or leakage at water levels below design due to poor to nonexistant maintenance. A lot of folks don't realise that the US Army Corps of Engineers are good guys who provide a lot of help to communities and who help fight floods when they come. Butch "PocoLoco" wrote in message .. . On 29 Sep 2005 09:56:30 -0700, wrote: PocoLoco wrote: From where do you get the idea that the Corps was responsible for the levees that failed? The ones that failed were not on intracoastal waterways. -- John H Doesn't matter, the Army Corp of Engineers builds more levees than just what's on the ICW. They build and maintain almost all the levees around N.O. on a federal-local cost-sharing basis. Building a levee and being responsible for a levee are two different things. Show me that the Corps built the canal walls that failed, or that they were responsible for any levees that failed. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." I think most of the breaks were in the canal walls, not the levees. In any case, if the levees were designed for a Cat 3 hurricane, then the Corps should not be blamed for their lack of ability to withstand Cat 4 or 5 hurricanes. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
Butch Davis wrote:
While the Corps does not build levees it often lets the contracts for levee construction and generally supplies the specs. Flood control levees are often Corps levees. If the Corps lets the contract Corps inspectors have the job of ensuring the specs are followed. I had the impression that the Corps pretty much owned all the specs for that kind of thing, and did the QA for Fed controlled projects on these lines. However, there is an important piece of information to consider. The Corps is seldom responsible for maintenance of levees except for ICW levees. In a prvious life I drafted all the letters to communities regarding the outcome of levee maintenance inspections conducted by Corps personnel. Almost without exception communities failed to maintain levees in good operating condition. But, at least they were duely informed that the levees were subject to failure and/or leakage at water levels below design due to poor to nonexistant maintenance. That's a good point, and it's a political hot potato to sling back & forth between the folks who want to do levee meaintenance... either because they live next door to it, or because they want the contract... and the people who don't want to spend money on maintenance because if they let it fall apart, the Corps will come and upgrade it at no (or less) cost to the locals. A lot of folks don't realise that the US Army Corps of Engineers are good guys who provide a lot of help to communities and who help fight floods when they come. Agreed. The Corps of Engineers has been doing so much with so little for so long, that it's now expected to do everything with nothing. DSK |
PocoLoco wrote: On 29 Sep 2005 09:56:30 -0700, wrote: PocoLoco wrote: From where do you get the idea that the Corps was responsible for the levees that failed? The ones that failed were not on intracoastal waterways. -- John H Doesn't matter, the Army Corp of Engineers builds more levees than just what's on the ICW. They build and maintain almost all the levees around N.O. on a federal-local cost-sharing basis. Building a levee and being responsible for a levee are two different things. I take it you didn't see or comprhend the "maintain" part, huh? Show me that the Corps built the canal walls that failed, or that they were responsible for any levees that failed. Maybe this, from the someone with the EPA: Have you seen all that data about the levee projects' funding being cut over the past three years by the Prez, and the funding transferred to Iraq? The levee, as designed, might not have held back the surge from a direct Class 5 hit, but it certainly would not have crumbled on Monday night from saturation and scour erosion following a glancing blow from a Class 3. The failure was in a spot that had just been rebuilt, not yet compacted, not planted, and not armed (hardened with rock/concrete). The project should have been done two years ago, but the federal gov't diverted 80% of the funding to Iraq. Other areas had settled by a few feet from their design specs, and the money to repair them was diverted to Iraq. The NO paper raised hell about this time and again, to no avail. And who will take the blame for it? The Army Corps, because they're good soldiers and will never contradict the C in C. But Corps has had massive budget cuts across all departments (including wetland regulatory) since Bush took office, and now we've reaped what was sown. It really ****es me off to see the Corps get used by the Administration to shield Bush -- they do great work when they're funded. This was senseless, useless death caused not by nature but by budget decisions. -- John H |
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