Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen? NO!

[johnfunk]

There's a thread in Editorials (posted to LBN and moved by moderators) linking to an exceptional piece in Editor & Publisher that details the gutting of New Orleans disaster prevention.

The last three paragraphs are, as DUer mcscajon pointed out, devastating:

One project that a contractor had been racing to finish this summer: a bridge and levee job right at the 17th Street Canal, site of the main breach on Monday.

The Newhouse News Service article published Tuesday night observed, "The Louisiana congressional delegation urged Congress earlier this year to dedicate a stream of federal money to Louisiana's coast, only to be opposed by the White House. ... In its budget, the Bush administration proposed a significant reduction in funding for southeast Louisiana's chief hurricane protection project. Bush proposed $10.4 million, a sixth of what local officials say they need."

Local officials are now saying, the article reported, that had Washington heeded their warnings about the dire need for hurricane protection, including building up levees and repairing barrier islands, "the damage might not have been nearly as bad as it turned out to be."

It didn't have to happen like this!

[Mistress Quickly]

1. This year was too late

Did they just figure out what might happen if a hurricane hit them?

IMO, there's a lot of blame to go around. They should have started busing people out Saturday. People had less than 24 hours to get out, on a Sunday, with the banks closed.

And I am tired of the reaction by ALL LA officials, who seem to be shocked that flooding happened!

Who'da thunk it? :sarcasm: