HoppinHill's Comments (85)

“Bush and the ACOE were warned (SELA 1995, Times Picayune) about the levee problems and the cost of the catastrophe of levee failure. But they ignored the report, and stopped or slowed repair work on the levees.”

“It's criminal GODDAMNIT, and I want it PROSECUTED.
.”

“Well, the levee failures were their fault, but I don't know if they got enough funding to build proper structures and that would be your representatives' duty. The people in NO should take a lot of the blame because the Fed's duty is to pay for stuff. It was completely foolish to blame President Bush and FEMA for the disaster after Katrina when it was the local government who had the responsability and they didn't step up.

During the floods here in 1997 and this year, the Minnesota and North Dakota National Guards and local emergency units and volunteers did all the work of saving the towns. FEMA came in later with white sedans and guys with clipboards to figure out who to make the checks out to. That's their duty; FEMA doesn't have big trucks and bulldozers and buses to move people. They just pay for stuff. Katrina was a huge failure for the local and state governments. I do blame the people of NO more than ever after Ray Nagin got reelected, when that jackass should have gone the way of Mussolini.”

“From a piece Jeff Young from Living On Earth did:

"The Corps proposed this diversion in the 60's but didn't get it built until the 90's. Once built, it was nearly derailed by a billion-dollar lawsuit from oystermen who claimed the incoming freshwater damaged oyster beds. And while the corps spent $26 million at Caernarvan to help repair wetlands, it spent many times that on another project which destroys wetlands: the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet."

From the LA Times:

"The Orleans Levee District is responsible for maintenance and employs work crews to trim grass along the levee slope. But trees and bushes sprouted from the yards of private homes near the breach site and were left untrimmed for years because of opposition from homeowners and the failure of levee officials to move aggressive­ly."

And from SFGate: "What happened? By 1968, a Congress worn down by the Vietnam war and economic turmoil began reining in spending; at the same time, the work met resistance from Louisiana politicians, communities, environmentalists and businesses fighting for individual interests.

For example, the corps scrapped a plan in the 1970s to build a floodgate at the entrance to Lake Pontchartrain out of concern that it would impede boats and marine life. Next, the alternate plan to build gates at the mouths of city drainage canals was rejected. Finally, the corps built floodwalls on the canals — and they broke during Katrina."”

“I wasn't at the meeting so don't know exactly what was said, but I was there during and after Betsy. At the time, the ACE wanted to try something different. In fact, an Act of Congress mandated it and President Johnson signed it into law.

The solution that the ACE came up with - which was probably viable - was to install a gate-type system similar to what the Dutch have since used around the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. It was called the Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Barrier Project. The storm gates would have closed off the Rigolets and Chef Menteur Passes.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "The project was stopped on Dec. 30, 1977, by U.S. District Judge Charles Schwartz Jr., who said the corps' environmental impact statement had failed to satisfy federal environmental laws. Schwartz ruled that the region "would be irreparably harmed" if the barrier project was allowed to continue. He chastised the Army for its inadequate environmental impact statement, which was based in part on a single biologist who never submitted a written report."

"The project faced strong opposition from the environmental group Save Our Wetlands, fishermen and the St. Tammany Parish, just north of Lake Pontchartrain, which had hoped to see a large shipyard built on a bayou. The shipyard was never built; today the area is underwater­."”

“The Corp of Engineer's in NO is as corrupt and the government of LA and that is very, very corrupt. Billions of federal dollars have been poured into the state in the afthermath of Katrina and if the state had to account for its disappearance, they could fill up the prison system.”

“Part of it is the design of the levees themselves. In defence of the ACE, they have tried to introduce gated levees, which allow the silt to settle back into the rivers, but it seems to me from everything I've read that politics and money have interfered with the introduction of "eco-friendly" flood barriers which actually work. Besides marvels of engineering, there are a number of other ways to divert floodwaters. But certainly, part of the problem is the lack of floodplains and wetland habitats (marshes). And too much hard surface. There's nowhere for water to go except into people's properties­...or so it seems.

So how do other low-lying, flood-prone, highly populated places like Zeeland and East Anglia deal with it? Because they had the political will to make some people move, to reclaim land and to spend money to pay the best engineers to erect the Thames Barrier and the more comprehensive Dutch system ("Delta Plan").

Yes - some people will have to give up their riverside and lakefront homes. They represent perhaps a fraction of a percent of the population. They will have to move, to protect the 45% whose homes and livelihoods and currently estimated to be threatened by flooding.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/12/05/holland_goes_beyond_holding_back_the_tide/”

“There's a difference between leeves and floodwalls. Proper engineering, with a basis in good geology, is critical to both.

And from everything I know of New Orleans and Louisiana, politics and corruption have been intregal since the days of the pirates.”

“It is obviously a matter of priorities.”

“Looks exceptionally generous to New Orleans”

“Wouldn't the delta thrive if it were not for the levee system that is necessary for people to inhabit New Orleans and the surrounding region? There's obviously trade-offs for most human endeavors; with no levees, there would be no New Orleans. Alligators and nutria need a stronger lobby.

Incidentally, I still like my energy cheap; it's not as if I've got a problem with what to do with too much money.”

“If he was to do a national speech people would still complain.

He really shouldn't be talking to the kids, he should be flying over them and looking at things. Yeah, that would be a much better use of his time.”

“Yes, Obama is supposed to be the Commander In Chief, yet appears to be getting all his direction from the Corps of Engineers, hence a Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Trip to the New Orleans Disaster Ward Thingy Place... a trip that doesn't include the Gulf Coast or Hurricane Recovery.
The Hurricane hit Mississippi and the Corps of Engineers hit New Orleans.
We survived the hurricane.­..
Go Figure...G­o Fish!
As Harry described in one post "Going Insider", after a labyrinth of playing cards and who'dats, he finally met with the President's Word on this --and who did THAT turn out to be? You guessed it, our Exquisite Corps!

Everyone is saying we should be Nice to the President when he comes to town.
But, I really think our attitude towards his bourgeois naivete regarding the Flood of New Orleans does not matter, because he and his "people" don't seem to be listening to We The People.
While there is no cause for Rudeness, I am just about tired of Obama's Game and think he now owes us more than a few explanations about the Corps of Engineers continued Bad Engineering Scams --not more full court press partays.

We have problems in New Orleans:in-operable pumps, un-repaired bad flood walls, millions of dollars getting shifted around from project to project.
He has had the OSC Report on this (again posted by Harry) on his desk since JUNE.
We need Answers and we need Action from the Commander In Chief.”