Infusion of money for NO flood controlproject in late 90's-Cuts after 2001

Levee system not designed for stronger storms
Funding problems plagued programs to protect New Orleans
MSNBC- Updated: 4:48 a.m. ET Sept. 5, 2005

WASHINGTON - Projects designed to keep New Orleans from flooding in a hurricane prepared the city for a probable scenario, not the worst-case scenario.

The network that was supposed to protect the below-sea-level city from flooding was built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, the Army Corps of Engineers said. It was overwhelmed when Katrina’s winds and storm surge came ashore a week ago as a Category 4 storm. That has left some lawmakers wondering why officials only considered the consequences of a moderate storm. “How many times do we have to see disaster overwhelm our preparedness before we recognize that we are playing Russian roulette with people’s lives, with their livelihoods and with the life of whole communities?”

Louisiana lawmakers have long lamented that Corps of Engineers programs designed to protect New Orleans and surrounding areas were starved for cash.

snip
Blame lands on Bush administration
It’s the Bush administration taking the brunt of the heat now.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said New Orleans got an infusion of money for flood control projects in the late 1990s.

snip
Two Corps of Engineers projects were in place to control flooding and prepare for hurricane damage in southern Louisiana. One was a flood control project with channel and pumping station improvements for Southeast Louisiana; the other was a project to protect residents between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River levee from surges driven by a fast-moving category 3 storm.

Each year since 2001, the corps asked for much more money for those two projects than the Bush administration was willing to request or Congress was willing to spend, according to figures compiled by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

In addition, funding for the two programs declined between fiscal years 2001 and 2004, although both saw slight increases this year. Much of the federal budget outside homeland security and defense has been held down while the administration tries to control deficits under control.

Link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9213319/
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They're killing this country!

we have known this for a week! Glad to see it on msrnc.
do you have a link?

I heard another one on C-span this morning use it.


"Why didn't Clinton fix them in his 8 years in office"!

I guess he had to clean up Bush Sr.'s mess and when there was a surplus in the late 90's money was allocated

as a function of years in these type of stories. It would make the point so much more effectively.