9.03.2005

New Orleans --- a separate country?

I trust that you all are aware of the horrible events following the hit of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. One of the most beautiful cities in the United States of America has been completely destroyed and will never be the same again. But before I get into the more political aspects of it, let's take a technical look at how the city was being protected and what happened to cause the flooding.

New Orleans is a city up along the Gulf of Mexico, and it was protected by levees. A levee is, by definition, "a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea". The New Orleans levees were never built to withstand more than a Category 3 hurricane. Katrina was a Category 5. Additional funding was sought from the government, to the tune of $27 million to help upgrade the levees. The Bush adminstration met that request with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually scraped up something like $5.6 million. Not nearly enough. The Tucson Citizen explains, "Katrina pulled water from the Gulf of Mexico eastward into Lake Pontchartrain and the extra water resulted in very fast flow through the canals that carry the water through New Orleans and back into the gulf. That extra flow resulted in breakage of the levees."

Now, there is definately no way to prevent a hurricane from occurring. However, a quote from Atrios reveals that "President George W. Bush said the other day that no one expected the levees to break." This is completely and totally ridiculous. The quote continues: "Well, with all respect, study after study, including FEMA's own tabletop exercises last year, all included the breaking or the giving of the levees. Everyone who had studied the issue knew that with a Category 3, 4 or 5 storm, that was a very strong likelihood." Of course it was a very strong likelihood! The government barely provided enough money to even begin to strenghten the levees in preperation for such an occurance. Neo-cons will tell you that this is because all of the funds are going towards the war. A war that needn't be fought. Let's look at the facts.

"All of the money is going towards the war." It needn't be repeated that it's already a war for a pack of lies, however, it's pointless dying over there and pointless dying over here.
The people who would be helping keep a sense of organization and control over the chaos are all off serving in Iraq.
Bush took a 5-week vacation in the middle of all of our problems. 5 weeks! In the middle of war and gas price spikes, he takes off.
Condoleezza Rice was spotted a few days ago in a store buying $2000 worth of shoes. Even in the horrible aftermath of Katrina, Condi finds herself in need of new pumps.

There used to be a joke that New Orleans was like a separate country from the rest of the US. It's entirely true and not a joke now. The people seeking refuge in the Dome and convention centers look like people who have been living through a disaster in a 3rd world country, not the United States of America, one of the richest countries in the world. There is no sense of order there. The plumbing has been ruined and people are resorting to burning holes in chairs and placing buckets underneath for toilets. Women and children have been raped and killed. Perfectly sensible people who held jobs are stealing from each other just to survive. Diabetics are in desperate need of insulin, and here's the kicker: the federal government didn't even know about the convention people until a day ago. These people have been suffering for a week, waiting for supplies. The Red Cross was not permitted into the area for safety reasons. What kind of crap is that? Finally these people will get some relief, and the government decides it won't be safe. I am so thoroughly disgusted.

So that's what I've gathered so far about the extent of the damage.

x

posted by Ianthe. @ 8:19 PM

0 Comments: