Originally Posted by Larry Gumpert
While I realize you are the go- to "expert" for nearly every subject discussed on this forum, I think I can enlighten you as to why the feds took the hit for a lot of the destruction caused by Katrina in New Orleans.
The Federal Government, that is to say the Army Corps of Engineers, designed, built and where in charge of inspecting and maintaing the levees built by them to protect the New Orleans area.
During the mid-fifties in the Corps, in their infinate wisdom dug a channel from damn near the center of New Orleans connecting to the Intracoastal Canal and the Gulf of Mexico. This was done to accommodate federally connected corporations and oilfield supply companies. It provided quicker access to the Gulf by hours eliminating the 21 hour route down the Missippi River.
In September of 1965 Hurricane Betsy barrelled into New Orleans. There was wide spread damage but the channel dug by our federal government funneled the tidal surge into the city collapsing levees and flooding only the eastern side of the city. A cry went out by the residents of the city that this federaly built channel needed to be closed. The interest of the people was over ruled yet again locally and nationally because businesses would have to relocate and jobs would be lost. The politacaly connected would win out again.
Forty years later we have Katrina. The 'hundred year storm". The tidal surge again is funneled into the city. The levees built to contain drainage canals of the city are collapsed by the tidal surge through Lake Pontchatrain to the north and west of the city.
Testimony by levee experts from Holland and through out the world varified that the levees were indeed under built. Army Corps of Engineer employees testified that levee inspections consisted of visually inspecting from their trucks to and from lunch. If a leak was discovered a report was filled out and sent up the chain of command. Get the picture?
So now, nearly six years to the day our new levee systems are nearly complete. The channel to the gulf is filled in and our beloved city is safe from tidal surges thanks to billions of O U R tax dollars. And I know it's true because the head of the Army Corps of Enginees told us so.
If you live any where near a structure designed and maintained by the Corps of engineers, be wary.
Understand, there were more people just like you whose lives were changed forever, than the people on whom the media focused.
I pray for the people along the Atlantic Seaboard. It's not just the storm, it's all the unknowns. Secure your belongings and if you can leave. I hope it doesn't take four weeks for you to get home like us.
I amhardy anexpert. Just another smuck with a somewhat reasoned opinion.
Too bad your explanation is not what we saw in the post Katrina media frenzy. Where was the loud voice when the years of mistakes you explained were heaped upon the man who had nothing to do with them?
What caused the disaster was years of hoping it wouldn't happen. What caused the pain and suffering was the incompetence of those on the ground when the inevitable did. Not FEMA and not Washington DC.
In their arrogance the governor of the State and the Mayor of the city told DC to hold off. Bad choices in a city full of people who apparently have come to depend on the Government for everything. Including their sense of self preservation.
The eastern seaboard is very different. Most of the folks on the coast are hardworking, tough, and self aware. They will do fine, in spite of the goverment.
roadster with a stick