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Hi, Karen, Not only was the failure of the levees predicted for a long
time (see, e,g, John McPhee’s writings of some decades ago; one of his
sections is on the Mississippi levees and the policy of the US Corps of
Engineers with regard to containing the river), but in Katrina we have NOT seen
the worse of what could happen. Just before it struck land, Katrina was loosing
wind speed, coming in at around 120 mph rather that the 155 that it had
achieved when it was still a “5” storm. For those of
you who are engineers, you will know what a large difference this made in the
actual pounds per square inch power of the wind. The force increases as
the square of the wind speed. Katrina could have been much, much worse. Second,
the Mississippi levees did not fail, if I am reading the news correctly. Only
the Lake levees failed. As everyone knows by now, the Lake level is
substantially below that of the river. Had the river levees failed, the
flooding of New Orleans would have been much worse than it was. Arthur has suggested that the lack of preparation was ‘criminal.’
Will we learn from this and prepare for the worse? (Including considering
the unmentionable possibility of either dismantling the river levees, flooding
the countryside and hoping that the city of New Orleans ‘rises’
again, buoyed by renewed ground water levels; or the even more unmentionable
possibility of simply abandoning New Orleans to SCUBA divers.) Karen also posted the most damning item I’ve seen to
date: the linkage between the monies we are spending on Iraq and the stripping
of domestic budgets to finance that bit of deadly foolishness. So I will suggest that everyone who either advocated that
invasion, or supported our continued occupation of the place shares in the
moral responsibility for the lack of preparedness for Katrina, as well as all
those other domestic programs that were put on hold or slowed down while the
neocons and Christian fundies amused themselves with the notion that they know
foreign policy. This moral responsibility includes the short-changing of
educational budgets, the stripping of infrastructural maintenance (e.g. roads –
Virginia has just received a proposal to put toll booths on its major arteries
in order to pay for maintenance and road development that would have in the
past be covered by our gasoline taxes. Cheers, Lawry From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Karen Watters Cole This morning Pres. Bush actually said on Good Morning,
America that “I don’t think
anyone anticipated the breach of the levees.” This
prompted Dan Froomkin to write in his Daily White House briefing that this rare
live interview “exposed one of the president's greatest weaknesses: He
doesn't have the answers to some of the most important questions”.
Further, he’s flat wrong. His lame statement contradicts not just FEMA and
the US Army Corps of Engineers but also the Scientific American, National
Geographic, local emergency personnel and newspaper who covered the budget cuts
to flood control and engineering projects in the Gulf, specifically New
Orleans. There is a clear track record since the first Bush
cuts in April 2001, when then Budget Director Mitch Daniels indicated FEMA
would be downsized. It was folded into the department of Homeland Security in
March 2003 and by summer 2004 funding requests for high priority projects were
slashed, citing the need for war funds. Just 2 months ago, US COE funds for NO
were cut by $72 MN. By the way, this brings up the old question of
“pork barrel” projects and how much we denigrate local politicians
for them. I know Sen. Mary Landrieu was rebuffed this summer for requests for
emergency funds, and Sen. Trent Lott has been accused of being a top achiever
for home state projects. While I have no knowledge of her housing status, or
claim that this is any retribution by God, other local pols from Louisiana and
Mississippi, including Sen. Lott, lost their homes in Katrina’s wake. I’ve seen reports that a Canadian rescue group
was stopped at the BC border by Homeland Security and not allowed in the US.
Can anyone confirm that? Below are several editorials from the many today
questioning the federal gov’t/ Bush administration actions and inaction.
For those of you who don’t receive their newsletter or bookmark the website,
here is Center for American Progress’ collection on Bush and Katrina, Day
3. Bush
values: Ask Not Speaking to a nation that was in the midst of confronting
monumental challenges such as poverty and war, Pres. John F. Kennedy said in
his 1961 inaugural address, "My fellow Americans: ask not what your
country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country ... ask of us
here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of
you." Speaking from the Rose Garden to a nation that is simultaneously
fighting a war and dealing with perhaps the greatest natural disaster in U.S.
history, Pres. George W. Bush failed to issue any such call for sacrifice.
The New York Times writes in an editorial, "Sacrifices may be necessary to
make sure that all these things happen in an orderly, efficient way. But this administration has never been
one to counsel sacrifice." If you ask, they will
respond: Shortly
after the attacks of 9/11, Sen. John McCain complained, "After 9/11, people wanted to serve and they were told to
go shopping or get on an airplane.... That's not the answer they wanted to
hear. This is an opportunity to serve." Americans have demonstrated time
and again that, in the face of tragedy, they will respond with true compassion.
Already, the Red Cross has announced that it has collected $21 million
in donations for the victims of Katrina, "a figure comparable to the response
for tsunami victims following the devastation in Asia earlier this year." "The outpouring of support has been
amazing," said Kara Bunte, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross. "People are now starting to see the
images on TV and want to help." Americans also responded with amazing
compassion in the two months following 9/11, providing approximately 1.6 million blood donations and contributing over $1.3
million to charities and relief agencies. Americans can and will do more to
sacrifice; they simply need a president who will ask. Further, it would be timely to organize a work program to
employ all those newly homeless and unemployed in projects such as those that
FDR deployed during the depression, to give meaningful work to desperate
people. Again, this would take some vision that Bush seems precariously
lacking, given his proverbial reliance on privatization. kwc NYT ED 090105: Waiting for a leader: “George W. Bush gave one of the worst
speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress
and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual
in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed.
He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day
celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets
delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who
wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would
work out in the end…It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily
announced, America "will be a stronger place" for enduring this
crisis. omplacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in
warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes.
But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the
chances of leadership seem minimal.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/opinion/01thu1.html Orlando Sentinel ED: After
Katrina “…natural disasters aren't unique to Florida. To protect all Americans, Congress should
revisit federal regulation of the insurance industry, and explore the
feasibility of setting up a federal reinsurance fund for natural disasters. Hurricanes may be unpredictable
beasts. But unlike earthquakes, tornadoes or wildfires, major storms arrive
with plenty of advance warning, courtesy of the Miami-based National Hurricane
Center. The value of coordinated emergency planning cannot be underestimated.
Nor can the importance of a coordinated emergency response. More important,
citizens must heed the directives of emergency personnel and community leaders.
Too often, false bravado, anxiety and apathy result in a needless loss of life.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed31105aug31,0,4995558.story?coll=orl-opinion-headlines WP ED 090105: The Great Flood of ’05: “This administration has consistently
played down the possibility of environmental disaster, in Louisiana and
everywhere else. The president's most recent budgets have actually proposed
reducing funding for flood prevention in the New Orleans area, and the
administration has long ignored Louisiana politicians' requests for more help
in protecting their fragile coast, the destruction of which meant there was
little to slow down the hurricane before it hit the city. It is inappropriate
to "blame" anyone for a natural disaster. But given how frequently
the impact of this one was predicted, and given the scale of the economic and
human catastrophe that has resulted, it is certainly fair to ask questions
about disaster preparations. Congress, when it returns, should rise above the
blame game and instead probe the state of the nation's preparation for handling
major natural catastrophes, particularly those that threaten crucial regions of
the country”. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/31/AR2005083102256.html (one of the most conservative papers in the US)
Union Leader (NH) ED Bush and Katrina: a time
for action, not aloofness As the extent of Katrina’s devastation became clearer
Tuesday — millions without power, tens of thousands homeless, a death
toll unknowable because rescue crews can’t reach some regions —
Pres. Bush carried on with his plans to speak in San Diego, as if nothing
important had happened the day before… A better leader would have flown straight to the disaster
zone and announced the immediate mobilization of every available resource to
rescue the stranded, find and bury the dead, and keep the survivors fed,
clothed, sheltered and free of disease. The cool, confident, intuitive leadership Bush exhibited
in his first term, particularly in the months immediately following Sept. 11,
2001, has vanished. In its place is a diffident detachment unsuitable for the
leader of a nation facing war, natural disaster and economic uncertainty.
Wherever the old George W. Bush went, we sure wish we had him back. http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=59785 Related Reading: Louisiana’s Times-Picayne reporting on hurricane
disaster potential in New Orleans and the budget cuts since 2003 that hampered
preparations. http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/ |
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