Why the Levee Broke

http://www.alternet.org/story/24871/

Why the Levee Broke

By Will Bunch, Attytood. Posted September 1, 2005.


Washington knew exactly what needed to be done to protect the citizens of New Orleans from disasters like Katrina. Yet federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was diverted to pay for the war in Iraq.

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<snip>
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.

<snip>
The $750 million Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project is another major Corps project, which remains about 20% incomplete due to lack of funds, said Al Naomi, project manager. That project consists of building up levees and protection for pumping stations on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles and Jefferson parishes.


The Lake Pontchartrain project is slated to receive $3.9 million in the president's 2005 budget. Naomi said about $20 million is needed.

<snip>
On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

<snip>
The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane- and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze. Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project -- $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million -- was not enough to start any new jobs. According to New Orleans CityBusiness this June 5:

..more..

Thanks for posting this...

He's finished. Too many lives have been destroyed as a DIRECT RESULT of HIS actions.

this is an honest question.

But I'm hearing that the 'Bush haters' are blaming BUSH for a natural disaster that was out of his control.

And that nbc had army engineers who said the wall was fine. It was built for an f-3 4 and that it was simply a bigger storm than they ever could have expected. We blame bush for everything.

So...how do we know what is completely the truth? Are we 'blaming' bush when we shouldn't be? Can Clinton or every President since the levey was built be blamed?

However, the man diverted monies that were to fund the levee projects in NO. They KNEW the levees were sinking and needed to be raised and he took their funds and diverted them to IRAQ and Homeland Security. Here are some thread links explaining why he is to blame. He owns this one...there's no way around it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=151655

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4529919

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4484450

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4482567

bush for this "natural disaster" and the devastation of it comparing it to 9-11 when we were "ATTACKED" and put at war.

Thus, I've heard people who listen to Rush say that type of thing.

for giving me all those links. I've read them and copied them to send to my relatives who were saying those things.

... what sense does it make to divert a paltry $300 million or so to the war in Iraq, when that won't even fund it FOR ONE DAY?

Management is about using the resources you have to the best effect.

Bush simply fails this test every time, he has NO management skills, all he knows how to do is cut everything that doesn't personally concern him and funnel the cash to his military-industrial complex.

Yes, this storm was not in our control. What WAS KNOWN, outlined BY FEMA ITSELF, that this (NO) was one of three disaster potentialities that weighed heaviest on their minds.

And Bush** cuts the budget for it. And FEMA, even with a 3-day notice, is totally unprepared to deal with it. It is just like the Iraq war, a total miscalculation of reality.

No, every ounce of blame that is going to land at Bush**'s door is well-earned.

I was about to answer but you summed it up quite well. thanks

that Bush has defunded.

How many lives are put at risk as Bush cuts nickels there, dimes here, from essential infrastructure maintainance programs?

We won't know until after the fact. I think Bush's plan is that all these problems with infrastructure, like everything else he does, will come home to roost when he's long gone. The weather just didn't cooperate for N.O.

I'll repeat:

Bush's guys have cut infrastructure & environmental funding--some of it specifically aimed at the disaster many foresaw for New Orleans.

Bush has sent half the National Guard to Iraq.

Bush sat on his can, doing nothing, as the disaster developed.

Yes, I did because I wasn't sure how many people would see the question AND since it's a fair question (AND I've had people asking me) I'd like to know how to respond to it.

If it's a problem, then I am sure the mods or skinner would let me know.

But my reason was valid and the question was concisely worded to be able to get the answer I needed.

another snippet:

The Senate was seeking to restore some of the SELA funding cuts for 2006. But now it's too late. One project that a contractor had been racing to finish this summer was a bridge and levee job right at the 17th Street Canal, site of the main breach on Monday. The levee failure appears to be causing a human tragedy of epic proportions: "We probably have 80 percent of our city under water; with some sections of our city the water is as deep as 20 feet. Both airports are underwater," Mayor Ray Nagin told a radio interviewer.

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."

Washington knew that this day could come at any time, and it knew the things that needed to be done to protect the citizens of New Orleans. But in the tradition of the riverboat gambler, the Bush administration decided to roll the dice on its fool's errand in Iraq, and on a tax cut that mainly benefitted the rich. Now Bush has lost that gamble, big time.

I want to be able to properly defend "this side" of the argument.

on the Senate floor. The chimp got a white paper from FEMA a couple of years back that told him the top three things that could bite him in the ass were a major earthquake in San Fran, a hurricane in NOLA, and a dirty bomb/terrorist chemical/biological release.

Well, it ain't a trifecta....yet.

Another example where his reading the shit people send him might be fundamental.

I hope Americans hang Bush for this.

Grrr! :mad:

that was breached was specifically targeted for improvement next (prior to the budget cuts) because it was thought to be most vulnerable.

Can anyone confirm this?

I told these people that the money was taken away from it and thata 30 year old levy would need continual structural repair even if it had survived numerous hurricans but never the eye. (Each hurrican had to have damaged it even if they never directly hit N.O. like this one did.)

BUT I had no proof or links at the time to give better answers.

for when the trolls start whining: "Leave our Baby Boy Bushy alone. The Prince couldn't do anything to help. He is not to blame....blah blah blah...."

I haven't.
With all the repeatative clips and comments, you would think this story might be "newsworthy". go figure

Major story that will be buried in an avalanche of "individual stories of heroism and fortitude." Corporate media serving their masters well.

will eventually force them to address this.
Some here have blasted this story to the news outlets, so they can't claim ignorance.