Walter Maestri - Jefferson Parish levee man (links included in this thread

[...of J.Temperance]

WHY haven't we HEARD from Walter Maestri, this man in my opinion is THE expert on the levees...so WHERE is he? Instead of talking to mouthbreather shitkickers like Michael Brown and EVERY single GOPer known to MANKIND...WHY aren't the media getting Mr. Maestri on air instead?

Here's some interviews with Walter Maestri pre-Katrina and what he had to say about what would happen to the levees:

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002331.html

In the below USA Today interview, IF you get a "404 object not found" coming up on the PAGE...IGNORE it and SCROLL down because the interview with Walter Maestri is STILL there.

http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/0802maestri.htm

Could somebody get a screenshot or something of that USA Today interview, notice the date of the "404 object not found", it's todays date, 07 September 2005...I think a screenshot of the interview would be sensible, because...you know how they "disappear" these things sometimes.

[KamaAina]

1. Probably because he knows the levee funds were diverted to Iraq

and has said so in the past in no uncertain terms.

That would tend to make Bush**co look like a gang of callous mass murderers, now wouldn't it? Yes, I know, they are a gang of callous mass murderers, but we can't have people going around saying it out loud! :sarcasm:

[...of J.Temperance]

2. Yes...I wonder if FEMA kidnapped him?

It's unthinkable that Maestri wouldn't have evacuated to safer ground. Yet nobody's heard of him AT ALL.

[KamaAina]

3. Don't you mean "evacuated" him? (sarcasm)

"Don't worry, Mr. Maestri, we're just gonna get you out of harm's way... Oh that? The barbed wire? They just have a little problem with coyotes around here, that's all."

[...of J.Temperance]

6. It's chilling, but I can imagine them saying that

These thugs need to be kicked out NOW, by somebody, anybody. This shit has GOT to be stopped.

Somebody give these bastards the Mussolini treatment, upside down just like Benito.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Here is his office phone number

General knowledge Mods--not his personal info.
504-349-5360

IF I am NOT mistaken..it was Mr. Maestri's mother that died in the nursing home--the one that Mr. Broussard was so upset about.

[...of J.Temperance]

5. So what are we going to do?

I think Walter Maestri is a CRITICALLY important man in this. It's odd that EVERY time the media wanted to discuss the levee situation PRE-Katrina, they had NO problem or hestitation in talking to him.

I think somebody should give, I don't know, what about Anderson Cooper of CNN, give him a heads up to try and contact Maestri?

[Zynx]

7. He's probably rather busy at the moment.

[...of J.Temperance]

8. This seems to be the standard response for everybody's silence

And, you might believe it, but I'm sorry I don't believe it.

[spuddonna]

9. He was on wwltv.com this weekend... He was urging the newsteam

to LEAVE on Sunday. And I heard him call in via phone again on Monday, I believe... The people at WWL know him well, and have been quoting him and his concerns for NO for many years.

In fact, when Bush made the 'no one knew' comment about the levee, they all said 'that's not true, because Mr. Maestri has been yelling about that for YEARS!'

I hope he's safe. I believe he had moved to some family out of town...

[...of J.Temperance]

10. So he was on TV the weekend of September 3-4th and then on

Again on Monday September 5th...but nobody's sure he's safe and yet NO CNN, Faux, NBC, CBS etc have contacted him for his comments, comments that COULD tell a GREAT deal about a CRITICAL part of this catastrophe - the levees.

[NYC]

11. Was it Maestri's mother who died? (Broussard interview)

When Aaron Broussard spoke of the mother in the nursing home who died after enquiring every day about rescue, was that Maestri's mother? I got the impression it was.

[spuddonna]

12. Oh God, I didn't even think of that! He said it was the Emergency Director

That may have been his position, I'm not sure...

Oh man, that breaks my heart if it is right, because this poor man was BEGGING people to listen, to hear that these levees were a danger for years...

:cry:

[NYC]

14. I seem to be the only one who thought of it, so maybe I'm wrong.

In any case, it was someone's mother. It's a tragedy no matter whose.

When listening to Broussard, I got the impression it was Maestri's mother. We should see if we can find out.

[spuddonna]

15. No, you may be right... I'll see if I can find anything in the wwl blogs..

It's just getting harder to find the older info now...

[Horse with no Name]

16. actually you and I had the same thought

see my post upthread a few hours ago.:)

[spuddonna]

17. I just read that!

The only info I had to add was I found his title in one article: Emergency Management Chief for Louisiana's Jefferson Parish

and from Aaron's quote:"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything."

So yeah, unfortunately it looks like we are right. I was hoping we were wrong, because it's so damn tragic. The guy who's been busting his ass to try to stop this disaster from happening loses his mom in a flood from the very thing he warned of...

:( Geez, where'd you find his office number?

[NYC]

18. That was the sentence from Broussard that made me think

it was Maestri's mother:

"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything."

She and the other people with her died because the federal government delayed. Deliberate indifference.

[Garbo 2004]

19. Same here, knowing Maestri's job, I wondered if that was his mum.

Incredibly tragic if so, considering for years he'd been warning about what would happen if a storm like Katrina hit NOLA.

In this case, however, she's a victim not so much of the storm but of the failed federal response. FEMA/Feds promised help asap and then not only did not show up as promised but actively prevented aid from reaching those in need. That goes beyond criminal negligence.

[NYC]

20. It is criminal negligence.

Doesn't that qualify as manslaughter?

[spuddonna]

21. This just breaks my heart...

The govt failed Maestri TWICE: 1) Bush cut the money to improve and fortify the levee and canal system, and 2) FEMA and the feds totally botched the rescue ops. which led to his mother's death...

The anger I feel at these FEMA/feds, who would deny planes/copters/boats, medicine, doctors, and even water from reaching our brothers and sisters who need help... it's unfathomable...

[luaptifer]

13. MAESTRI, in 2002 "Hurricane KissYourAssGoodBye"

WALTER MAESTRI: Well, when the exercise was completed it was evident that we were going to lose a lot of people we changed the name of the storm from Delaney to K-Y-A-G-B... kiss your ass goodbye... because anybody who was here as that Category Five storm came across... was gone.

Zwerdling interview excerpts and links