Thursday, September 01, 2005
Blame Games
There are frustrated rumbles of talk about whose to blame about New Orleans getting flooded.
I know having lived there, that the situation was created over a wide number of administrations, back into the mid-60s, and the situation involved Federal, state and local decisions.
One interesting tidbit in the blame game is this:
In 1998, the DoD and the US Army Corps of Engineers drafted a document detailing the fact that New Orleans was protected by levees which were designed to protect N.O. from a LEVEL 3 hurricane. These groups wanted to go into N.O. and assess what needed to be done to improve the levees to at least withstand a LEVEL 4 OR 5 hurricane.
This serious request and supporting information was deemed highly necessary to protect N.O. and was presented in full to the President of the United States for approval of this critical project.
THE REQUEST WAS DENIED BY WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON. For those interested in the details, they are available in the FEDERAL REGISTER as a matter of permanent record.
Lots of hands can be slapped in the blame game. Mayor Schiro and President Johnson after Hurricane Betsy, for instance. It was in this time period the decision to protect against a category 3 was made. Betsy was a three. Then there was all the draining of the wetlands in and around New Orleans, the building of the intracostal waterway, and the reaction of the Army Corps of Engineers to the flooding in 1920, and the lack of ability of any government in Louisiana to deal with the salt water destruction of the marshlands which protected the cities near the coast.
Blame them all. What works better is rolling up one's sleeve, see what lessons can be learned, and do the right thing NOW.
I am working on a blog site just for hurricane news and information. Not upline yet, but will be in a day or two.
Join me in thinking about the suffering and what can be done to help. Forget about blame games and work on fixit solutions. Our fellow brothers and sisters need us.
I know having lived there, that the situation was created over a wide number of administrations, back into the mid-60s, and the situation involved Federal, state and local decisions.
One interesting tidbit in the blame game is this:
In 1998, the DoD and the US Army Corps of Engineers drafted a document detailing the fact that New Orleans was protected by levees which were designed to protect N.O. from a LEVEL 3 hurricane. These groups wanted to go into N.O. and assess what needed to be done to improve the levees to at least withstand a LEVEL 4 OR 5 hurricane.
This serious request and supporting information was deemed highly necessary to protect N.O. and was presented in full to the President of the United States for approval of this critical project.
THE REQUEST WAS DENIED BY WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON. For those interested in the details, they are available in the FEDERAL REGISTER as a matter of permanent record.
Lots of hands can be slapped in the blame game. Mayor Schiro and President Johnson after Hurricane Betsy, for instance. It was in this time period the decision to protect against a category 3 was made. Betsy was a three. Then there was all the draining of the wetlands in and around New Orleans, the building of the intracostal waterway, and the reaction of the Army Corps of Engineers to the flooding in 1920, and the lack of ability of any government in Louisiana to deal with the salt water destruction of the marshlands which protected the cities near the coast.
Blame them all. What works better is rolling up one's sleeve, see what lessons can be learned, and do the right thing NOW.
I am working on a blog site just for hurricane news and information. Not upline yet, but will be in a day or two.
Join me in thinking about the suffering and what can be done to help. Forget about blame games and work on fixit solutions. Our fellow brothers and sisters need us.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Stay tuned for after Katerina information
I lived in New Orleans for almost 30 years. I will be posting regular info about what you can do to help after the storm has passed. If you find out info, or want me to publicize your site or program regarding post-storm information and help, please drop me a line here.
