This is depressing:
New Orleans will have to be abandoned for at least nine months, and many of its people will remain homeless for up to two years, the US government believes.
The bleak assessment will deepen the biggest crisis faced by President George Bush, who last week called the devastation of Hurricane Katrina a ” temporary disruption”.
As the relief effort finally got under way yesterday for the tens of thousands of people left without food, water, medicines or the rule of law for five days, the federal official in charge of disaster recovery told foreign diplomats that reconstruction cannot begin until next summer.
The President is now facing a political hurricane of his own, with gathering criticism, even from inside his own party, for failing to heed warnings of the city’s vulnerability, cutting spending on its defences to pay for the wars on terror and in Iraq, and responding sluggishly to the worst natural catastrophe ever to hit his country.
Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans, said that every day of delay has caused hundreds of deaths. Louisiana’s junior Senator, Republican David Vitter, gave the Bush administration “an F grade” for its handling of the crisis. Senator Chuck Hagel, a leading contender for his party’s nomination to succeed Mr Bush, said, “There must be some accountability.”
Nine months. Two years.
Why were these levee’s not built to protect against Cat 5 storms? Will they be in the future?
caleb
I would like to hope the levees will be rebuilt/reinforced up to level 5 standards. If they don’t I will be flabergasted. (what else is new?)
I think as long as it can hold a convention in aught eight, those on the right will be happy.
http://www.nationalreview.com/editorial/editors200509031654.asp
No single step would go further to dramatize the GOP’s commitment to rebuilding New Orleans than announcing now that the party’s 2008 convention will be held in the recovering city. Such a move would signal the party’s confidence in the Big Easy’s renewal, and put it at the forefront of what should be similar commitments from private actors to do their part to help New Orleans come back.
Pb
You know, they were going to look into that, but a funny thing happened on the way to the bank…
I believe the relevant quote from the Army Corps of Engineers was “a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now”.
over it
I mentioned it in an earlier thread…but…it appears as though we need to hire the best engineers that the DUTCH have.
John Cole
PB- Just stop it for one minute. This shit should have been done 40 fucking years ago.
docG
And if a frog had wings, it wouldn’t bump its ass hopping.
What does 40 year old “should haves” have to do with current behavior? President Johnson f*cked up, so free passes to everyone that followed?
Pb
John…
I agree. It should have been done already.
It should have been done 40 years ago, but it wasn’t.
It should have been done last year, but it wasn’t.
I don’t currently have a link about what the Army Corps of Engineers was doing in New Orleans 40 years ago. I can, however, tell you about what was going on from 1995 onwards.
SoCalJustice
I’m sure this question’s been asked before, but I wonder what the plans are for next year’s Mardi Gras – if any.
Move to another city? Cancelled? A smaller, but defiant, festival in whatever the French Quarter is like by next year?
Zzyzx
Socal – probably the least of their worries right now. Ask around New Years.
Lis Riba
An expert on CBS Sunday Morning said windspeeds measured around New Orleans never much exceeded 100 mph, which count as Category 2 — speeds at which the levee should’ve held. In other words, it may have been lack of maintenance rather than inadequate standards in the first place…
Stormy70
The reason the flow of fed dollars slowed down might have to do with the siphoning of the funds for corrupt LA officials. I do not excuse the inept leadership of LA in this at all. I don’t trust politicians who have nervous breakdowns on TV, which Blanco, Landrieu, and Nagin have done. No wonder the local and state preperations were so bad, they had to be goaded into action to issue a mandatory evacuation order. Then to leave people stranded by not implementing their own plan is horribly inept. Were the feds slow to respond? I don’t think so once one knows the logistics involved in getting that type of operation off the ground.
Richard Bottoms
Start your count down on how long before it is all blamed on Bill Clinton.
SoCalJustice
Zzyzx
I don’t think it’s the least of worries to a city who has such a strong economic reliance on tourism. There are tens of thousands of jobs in that city that exist in large part to cater to visitors.
The sooner people can start coming to New Orleans, the less jobs will be lost. It’s not a callous issue.
Sojourner
Ah, it’s good to see Stormy is still in full denial mode.
Right, it’s much better to spend hundreds of millions on a bridge for 50 people. And there’s NO corruption in the Bush administration, right?
They’ve watched their home towns destroyed and you’re criticizing them for being unnerved? You’re still an ass. Perhaps if Bush had only possessed 1/100 of their empathy, those people wouldn’t have had to wait for FIVE days.
Goaded? Evidence please.
Walmart, the media, and American Electric Power made it down there. Why couldn’t the feds have made it? They certainly should have made it to the Super Dome – the roads were intact.
Ah, Stormy. Still defending the indefensible. What a girl.
Zzyzx
Oh I know that NO wants people to come. I was planning to go to Jazz Fest 06; my girlfriend and I were already looking at hotels. However, if it’s going to be 9+ months, they’re going to have to worry about getting resturants to reopen there from their new location in Houston, let alone get tourists into town.
RiverRat
«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.
[ … ]
September 29, 2000
The Republican Controlled House approved Thursday a $23.6 billion measure for water and energy programs, with sizable increases for several New Orleans area flood-control projects. The Senate will vote Monday, but it may be a while before the bill is enacted.
President Clinton is promising to veto the annual appropriation for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers, not because it is $890 million larger than he proposed, but because it does not include a plan to alter the levels of the Missouri River to protect endangered fish and birds.
goonie bird
I,ll bet it gets a little spookie at times walking through a whole ruined city and its a ghost town
Sojourner
Clinton was on the right track. The wetlands need to be restored because they are the most effective form of hurricane prevention. But that’s a scientific concept that is well beyond the understanding of the current administration.
And certainly mother nature has had the last laugh on the global warming issue. Amazing what a difference a water temperature of a few degrees makes.