New Orleans: What's Been Done, What's on the To-Do List

LONDON--President Obama is visiting one school in New Orleans today.  That's a symbolic nod in the direction of a major change wrought in the city since the flood, a large turn toward charter schools, which, according to latest reports, has resulted in improved test scores for the city's students.  New Orleans residents have also reformed the levee boards and the tax assessors, and the city's residents and businessess have, one at a time, with limited resources and a lot of sweat, rebuilt their homes and workplaces.  Insurance companies?  They slow-walked repayments, as has the federally-financed Road Home program. Tulane University has started a program of neighborhood medical clinics, trying to fill the gap in health care.  The US Attorney has targeted political corruption.  The city has its first full-time inspector general (though controversy has roiled his office).  There are nodes of entrepreneurs, giving birth to new business ideas and encouraging each others' projects.

The arts community has received jolts of energy from the disaster, from the recovery, from the need to express the city's existential angst and its joy at still being around.  The music is (largely) back, the club scene vibrant, the festivals (Jazzfest, Essence, Voodoo) back and (largely) thriving.  There are at least 120 more restaurants in the city than before the flooding.  Though some new residents have complained to police about "noise in the streets" (i.e., second-line parades), the city's indigenous culture has, so far, survived, although the Mardi Gras Indians have needed outside help to continue their traditions.

That's the good news.  The bad news?  The Corps of Engineers, as I've noted in previous posts here, has installed "temporary" pumps that do not, and cannot work, according to a Corps whistleblower whose report has been validated by the United States Office of Special Counsel in a report sent to President Obama this past June.  The Corps is choosing the "technically not superior" solution for the permanent pumps.  The Corps is the agency whose handiwork catastrophically failed after Hurricane Katrina basically gave New Orleans a pass.  And southern Louisiana continues to lose vital coastal wetlands (that buffer the city against stronger hurricanes) at a fearsome rate, while state officials wait for sufficient federal funds (and okays from the Corps) to start crucial restoration projects.

What can you do?  Here are some organizations that are helping: Covenant House New Orleans, Common Ground Relief, the St. Bernard Project, Sweet Home New Orleans, the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic.  And, oh, yes, writing the President, asking him to give New Orleans more than four hours of his attention would be good, too.  You might address your letter in care of his social secretary, Desiree Rogers, a born-and-bred New Orleanian.

Follow Harry Shearer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/letwits

Comments

[jcwtts1]

See, no party has ever done what the GOP is doing now. No party has ever said, NEVER, to every single bit of legislation. It hasn't ever happened before. Normally, during the course of a year, both parties have a chance to get what they need to protect their state. There is horse trading, there are compromises on both sides, the party in power gets more because, well they are in power. That is how governing actually works. Now, the GOP took their ball and went home. They refuse to engage, as though that is going to hurt the dems. They put politics in front of infrastructure during the worst economy, maybe ever. Jindal turned down stim money and now you wonder why there simply isn't money to fund your work projects? The Limbaugh GOP has a new strategy. Never ever vote for a dem bill, no matter how necessary no matter how good. . What if we had done what the GOP is trying to do now? How is it working out for you guys down in LA. It is working fine for me in PA. But for you deep red states my advice is simple, nut up or shut up. There is an election in 2010, make sure you vote the bums out and put in people willing to use the federal system to get what you need to survive.

J

[luziannagirl]

Oh, I get it.

So, last administration Louisianians weren't Republican enough to get rescued off the hot pavement quicker than four days, or to warrant temporary housing not made with poisonous plastic, or drywall that didn't corrode both their wiring AND their lungs, or to get a decent shake with their insurance and mortgage companies.

Now, we're just not Democratic enough to be worth decent levees and coastal restoration.

I must have missed the part in the Constitution about needing to know the right political shuck and jive in order to enjoy the full rights and privileges of statehood.

[jcwtts1]

It has nothing to do with not being democratic enough. You have reps, you have senators. They have power and the ability to earmark money for you state to flat our appropriate money for your state if they can build a coalition. But in order to get it most times, and this should just be common sense, you have to vote for the bills. Let me ask you something. What would the republican congress have done with amendments to republican bills that came from dems who not only weren't going to vote for the final bill no matter what, but came out and said, no matter what you do no matter how you compromise we will never ever vote for this bill. How would the GOP have dealt with our amendments if that is how we functioned? They would have done exactly what we're doing. Moved on to people who wanted to engage in the process. Politics 101. If you aren't going to vote for something, or participate in the discussion of voting for something, how do you build a coalition to get what you want and what you need?

[luziannagirl]

The Army Corps of Engineers in many ways, operates outside this legislative process.

Legislation doesn't tell the ACOE HOW to design and build a levee, or which BRAND of submersible pumps to use, nor which company from which to buy them .

But the Commander-in-Chief sure can. And so far, he hasn't. (The last one routinely had his top minions Rove and even Cheney interfere if not dictate to the ACOE what, when, who, and how)

And without those minimally adequate levees (we're not talking Cat5, here folks, just Cat3, what they were SUPPOSED to have been for years and WEREN'T) and and coastal restoration, all the restoration money - driven - rebuilding in the world is ultimately for naught, because it will all happen again. Next time may be worse. The Port of New Orleans and Port Fourchon might be so damaged they have to be closed for a month instead of just a week or a few days.

That may well mean your grocery store runs out of all flour products and the price of gasoline jumps to $5 a gallon.

[Sweetbay]

"And, oh, yes, writing the President, asking him to give New Orleans more than four hours of his attention would be good, too."
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NEW ORLEANS -- U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected in New Orleans next week.

She is set to be joined by FEMA administrator Craig Fugate and federal Gulf Coast Rebuilding coordinator, Janet Woodka.

Since President Barack Obama took office in January, the Gulf Coast has been one of the most visited regions by top administration officials. By the administration count, at least 30 trips have been made by senior officials to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, with most of those to Louisiana.

http://www.wdsu.com/news/20398723/detail.html
----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­-

PBS reports today Obama administration officials have made 22 trips to New Orleans this year.

[maw808]

Oh, uh, did I mention that Dutch engineers have been at the forefront when it comes to designing and engineering solutions using Vetiver? And the Dutch have funded such work in Vietnam, among other countries. See, vetiver.org

[luziannagirl]

If I'm not mistaken, maw, vetiver grass is an exotic. If it's an exotic that tough, then I have to wonder what the potential is for it getting loose and taking over, like SO many other supposedly "benign" and "sterile" exotics have. So, sorry, maw, you keep that vetiver---but tell you what--- we'll send you a Chinese Tallow or 2 and a Nutria-rat, how about it? You can make candles out of the former, and the latter tastes like chicken. Just don't turn your back on either, because they might do to your area what they've done to ours.

BTW, we have no shortage of native plant material highly appropriate for holding soil, re-establishing marsh, and "pinning" levees together. That's not the problem. The problem is, that no species of plant can construct the necessary structures and earthworks, and then go plant itself.

[maw808]

The Army Corps of Engineers is unequal to the task of tending to the LA. levees. Well before Katrina struck, The Vetiver Network International (TVNI) told the Corps that a buffer of (VERY) deep-rooted, tall Vetiver would reinforce the levees and create a significant windbreak that would help to protect coastal areas from hurricane-strength winds. See, vetiver.org. Instead of (at the very least!) initiating pilot projects to confirm results from similar applications in the tropics and semi-tropics, the Corps ignored this green, highly effective cure. The Corps is wed to brittle solutions like reinforced concrete, which are hugely expensive and require maintenance. Vetiver, on the other hand, is a soft engineering solution that has a performance rating of one-sixth mild steel reinforcement (mPA), and grows in a wide variety of inhospitable conditions. This plant is certainly equal to the challenge!

[shela88]

Harry, why is Senator Mary Landrieu's name so conspicuously absent from conversations about pre-Katrina problems and post-Katrina progress (or lack of same)? Senator Landrieu is a true daughter of Louisiana with family ties to her State's political past and the present as well. Her father Moon was Mayor of New Orleans and her brother Mitch is now Lt. Governor. After Katrina I expected Senator Landrieu to come to the aid of her state ..Instead there has been nothing but silence and inactivity with regard to the people of New Orleans and their needs. Senator Landrieu was never liberal in her views or her votes but I thought the plight of the great city of New Orleans might be of more than a passing interest to her.

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

I love everyone who used to pile on Bush now desperately trying to find any other elected pol other than the new Pres to finger. Let's be clear: no elected pol of either party has covered him/herself in glory on this issue. But just compare the pledges President Obama made at Tulane in 2008, or the ones on his website, with what he's actually done. Patience is all very fine, but the Corps of Engineers isn't waiting for the President to weigh in before they repeat their deadly errors, and the Gulf isn't waiting for him to take action before it continues to eat away at the coastal wetlands. Waiting too long is literally signing the order for the next disastrous flood in New Orleans.

[shela88]

There was no desperation involved when it came to finding Landrieu's efforts on behalf of New Orleans sadly lacking..but you are right and there is plenty of blame to go around. In a perfect world, a Senator uses the bully pulpit to make a case for a cause and proximity to the President is an important factor in getting what is needed. Problem is, someone has to care enough in the first place. That's your job I guess and you are doing it well..

[William50]

Having talked with construction workers who went to that city, the first thing they stated was they could not leave anything around the work area or it was stolen, they had to leave guards on the areas they were living in or their private trucks and rooms would be stolen or gone threw. They left because the accounting management at the federal level was so worthless they would work a month and get a weeks wages.
New Orleans and the surrounding areas are a disgrace to America and a prime example of Federal inability to work for America.
Put right in your face, I will state that given the chance and the responsibility and authority I can make better head way then the Feds have done.
There is no reason that the town is not a glowing highlight for green, and the future. I can make it better. I am willing to state I can do it. The first thing will be a military type force to protect each area as we work. The second will be to get the job going and a few hundred thousand workers earning federal wages rebuilding the entire area.
Job announceme­nt....need­ed dreamers, workers, bakers, construction workers of every kind plus city planners from the drain up to be willing to build a new city in New Orleans. Long hours, great pay and a lot of shrimp...apply today America needs you
middleamerican2010
Casey

[DUSAA-1775]

The sea levels are rising and N.O. is sinking about 3-4 feet every hundred years. Right now N.O. is 5-10 feet below sea level. The city has shown that it can't even begin to take care of itself. It's government ran out of town leaving behind 1/2 million people and hundreds of unused buses.....please tell me again why my tax dollars should be sunk into that swamp?

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

A, because all of your numbers are wrong, starting with half of New Orleans being at or above sea level according to the latest numbers from Tulane, and nowhere near half a million people were left behind; in fact, the successful evacuation of 90% of the city's population, not to mention those of areas to the south, was the most successful mass evac in US history.
B. Your tax dollars paid for the flood. Pottery Barn rule.

[GuyRC]

What exactly do you mean by sea level? MLLW? Whatever you mean it isn't that impressive when you are looking at a storm surge stacked on top of high tide. Whatever the Corps does I hope they don't tell people that move back into those low areas that they are safe from future inundation, that would be criminal.

[luziannagirl]

Oh, no....not the bus-thing again....PUH-LEASE will somebody tell this guy what happened with the buses. I've done it enough, it's somebody else's turn.

Somebody needs to compile a "Top Katrina Myths" website, you know?

[PCL07]

Thank you for the updates. Maybe we should increase performances and community updates in Congo Square. Not too sure how many farmer markets are around, but I plan on visiting New Orleans for the Bayou Classic this year.

Thank you again Mr. Shearer!

[backhandpath]

I saw it too. Yep. Sad but very true.
He still thinks Katrina Hit New Orleans!
~where did His O'ness got this YANKEE SOUTHERN ACCENT?
He couldn't pronounce Melancon or Cao. Soliciting audience applause for his own Lackeys.
He opened with trying to this into a Love Obama Thing.
Everybody hates poor Barry.
Also just reiterated his Total Ignorance of the Cause of New Orleans Flooding.
Denies that Corps of Engineers did it --instead says "Government Broke Down".
He definitely, deliberately pushed the Katrina Meme by saying it wasn't just when Katrina Hit New Orleans (Wrong Barry) it was "other things" that caused the devastation... like amorphous "government breakdown".
He always referred to TheStorm.
OBAMA NOT ONCE UTTERED THE WORDS ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.
He was Lying by Omission and I watched him do it.
What about the Bad Pumps, Mr President? What about our flood walls that are Not Replaced by your Rogue Military Unit the USACE??? Faggetaboutit.

I am still kinda stunned by Obama's Hubris and Condescension. Watching him punk New Orleans today was like watching a Glory Hole Video: you never know what will pop out next but you know it involves a faceless blow job.
Sorry, that is how I saw it. Obama Does Not Get It.
He doesn't Get It with Wetlands Loss.
He doesn't Get It that Katrina actually Missed New Orleans and hit MS.
He doesn't get it that New Orleans invented the very Peep Show he offered the American Public today.

[wonketteRAWKS]

Just read a story on Obama's visit from AP via Yahoo! and they still insist on lying that this was a "natural" disaster. No mention on inadiquate levees.

That's sad!

[gala1]

Assigning blame won't accomplish much.

9 months to set foot in New Orleans?
I'd imagine that means more to those living there and who voted for him in hope of something better .
Since then I've come to believe Obama sees himself as having to accomplish two tasks in life.
Getting elected and getting re-elected.

So , you put your hopes on a politician and, big surprise, this is what you get. Nine months of talking the walk.
Just how many more promises do you really need to hear?

It's not the promises. It's what he hasn't even addressed.
It's over a year since t Wall Street melted down . So far the same profiteers who caused it to happen have gotten far richer in the past year. Crime really pays.
How's that for showing us where you stand when that's what they are seeing.

And then there's the war, lest we forget.
You know , the one he promised to end.
Got Bin Laden? Twin Towers re-built?

And of course there's the poor souls in the drowned South , who actually thought that getting Obama into office would mean any help for them.
Too bad the campaign promises that are most important to keep are to the money.

As smarmy as Bill Clinton was about feeling your pain, at some point someone would actually be there to do something about it.
All we've got now is the soar of Clintonian rhetoric with dead-bounce of Bush League action.

-gala1

[Sweetbay]

Okay. It's obvious which side of the aisle you sit on. But, could you at least use some truth in your accusations.

Obama never promised to end the w@r in Afghanistan. That was the "necessary" w@r.


And, what does rebuilding the Twin Towers have to do with this administration?

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

Sad? To quote Lt. Gen Russell Honore, they're stuck on stupid.

[scooter1]

Here's the thing about LA. Sen. Landrieu is totally against public intervention by including a public option in the health bill because, she says, she believes in the "private sector" to solve problems. Of course, she is all for public intervention when it comes to the Katrina disaster. She wants us to give La. a "free lunch", as she calls it, for building and re-building New Orleans, but claims there's "no free lunch" as it concerns health care. BAsically, federal spending is good if it's for La. and bad if it's for anyone else in the Union.

[jaywillie]

Excellent post today, Harry.

[DrBOP]

Been reading your posts since the beginning Mr. Shearer, and I have finally realized what's missing....you need a monicker, a handle, a nickname....and I think I've got it! = Harry 'Da Hammer....­or....Hamm­er Harry!
And Mr. Shearer...­.PLEASE...­PLEASE...P­LEASE keep HAMMERIN' AWAY!!!! You are one of the few voices that cuts right to the heart of the matter, with overwhelming evidence on your side. And you KNOW that your voice is being heard in the White House....just KEEP DOING IT!!!! Hopefully they will WAKE UP in time!!!!

[jcwtts1]

The reason we have a representational government, the reason the GOP screams States Rights (and state responsibility) is that "no one knows LA like someone from LA." So get your GOP hacks to vote for something. Wait, isn't there a defense appropriation that has a hate crime rider. Wow, how did people add hate crimes to defense... maybe because they VOTED FOR THE BILL. Remember Michelle (god how I hate her) Malkin ranting and raving about the omnibus spending bill in Feb... you know, 2008s budget? 9000 earmarks. But no one from LA wanted money for the corps or for wetlands... to green, to "soft on crime" When you start ranting and raving about the GOP not being a political party but instead being an ideological throwback, no compromise, no negotiation I will begin to take your seriously. It isn't like the POTUS wouldn't meet with your delegation, he'll meet and talk to anyone.

[Imago]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Thank you.

I get Mr. Shearer's frustration with the problems in New Orleans, but I don't get the shrill insistence that this is something that administration should be focused on. This is a STATE issue -- and representatives from this state should be pushing for resources.

That's what state representation is supposed to do. You know, that pork barrel stuff it's really easy to make campaign promises about never going after except for the stuff in YOUR state because that's not foolish, that's important.

Where is the noise from the LA Congressional delegation about new levees for New Orleans?

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

Good Lord, David Vitter wanted to have time to talk to the President specifically about the levee issue and was turned away. I have no brief for Vitter, nor do I have one for Obama. The levees are a federal issue for one reason: there's a Congressional law saying so. Please repeal it, if you like, and return our offshore oil revenues to the state, and the state and local governments will or will not take care of it....

[GeorgeKaplan]

"This is a STATE issue..." Clearly you need to read up a little more on what you are saying. Because what you said is WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sweetbay]

$15 billion of the stimulus was earmarked for the levees.

The Corps is only 1/3 through the project.

I think Shearer's argument is that the Corps is only strengthening the levees when they really need to be redesigned and rebuilt.