Sad but true.


The Devastating Impact of Hurricane George
by Mike Whitney


September 1, 2005

The full force of the Bush catastrophe is finally beginning to be felt.
Currently, New Orleans is flooded with tons of chemical contaminants
and hydrocarbons "that will continue to poison the Gulf of Mexico for
more than a decade". (Democracy Now) An official from the
Environmental Protection Agency told the Washington Post, "This is the
worst case.. There's not enough money in the Gross National Product of
the United States to dispose of the amount of hazardous material in
this area."

Could the tragedy have been avoided?
What might have happened if the Bush Administration hadn't ordered the
"steepest reduction in hurricane-and-flood control funding for New
Orleans in history?" (Will Bunch "Why the Levee Broke")
Despite the constant warnings from SELA (Southeast Louisiana Urban
Flood Control Project) Bush elected to under-fund the Lake
Pontchartrain levee project by nearly 80%. Of the $20 million the
project required, the Bush administration only provided a paltry $4
million. Now New Orleans is buried under a 10 ft deep chemical-stew
and corpses are reported to be bobbing atop the storm waters in the
poorer neighborhoods.

Welcome to Bush's America; where the uber-rich can expect lavish tax
cuts and the huddled masses get a 3 day lock-up at the Superdome;
where the government redirects desperately-needed resources to the oil
wars in Mesopatamia and entire regions disappear beneath the
flood-waters at home.
The New Orleans tragedy is America's tragedy; the inevitable victory
of ideology over science; the triumph of greed over reason.
The Bush tax cuts and the skyrocketing costs of the war in Iraq have
brought Falluja to Louisiana; the only difference being that snipers
are not perched on the buildings to shoot the wounded on their way to
the hospital.

As Will Bunch said, "Washington knew exactly what needed to be done to
protect the citizens of New Orleans from disasters like Katrina. Yet
federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was diverted to
pay for the war in Iraq." The Army Corps of Engineers couldn't
complete their vital work because Bush turned off the spigot while the
levees continued to sink.

The hurricane was not avoidable; the Bush flood certainly was.
Bush also played a major role in savaging the wetlands that protect
the surrounding area from the storm surges that result from hurricanes
like Katrina. As Sidney Blumenthal points out, "Every two miles of
wetland between the Crescent City and the Gulf reduces a surge by half
a foot." Even though he was aware of this, in 2003 Bush allowed
developers to destroy the sensitive wetland areas that buffer the
coast. It was the equivalent of taking the seat-belts, air bags, and
bumpers off a car and then driving the opposite way on the freeway.
The disaster was just the predictable outcome of dreadfully flawed
policies.

Now, the administration will have to deal with the devastation in New
Orleans like they deal with every tragedy of their own making; by
diverting attention from themselves and by mounting a public relations
offensive spearheaded by the performer-in chief.
Expect to see Bush in a National Guard jumpsuit; preening before the
adoring media while he condemns the wretched minorities who are
picking through the debris of downtown New Orleans.

The looting is just another Karl Rove red-herring intended to draw
attention from the criminal negligence of the Bush cabal. The 10 ft
wave that marched through New Orleans; devastating everything in its
path and creating a small army of American refugees, originated in
Washington. Don't forget it.

I'm no G.W fan but can't agree with this at all. The Big Easy has been around a lot longer than G.W and no amount of Levee building was going to prevent this from happening.

Its basic science that when you build a coastal town below sea level in an area known for this type of weather event ****s gonna happen sooner or later. Its happened before, it will happen again. Ca is gonna see a massive earth quake again sometime in the future, Florida will get hammered several more times. G.W is responsible for alot of things but this is not one of them.

It's Clinton's fault; just ask a Republican.

How about it is a risk that the people that live and built there chose to take. They lost the bet. We all face the same with earthquakes here.

This might sound wrong- Sorry I said it but was thinking it last night when they showed all the trouble at the super dome.

From what I have seen of the majority of the people in distress.. they have been sitting around waiting for Federal assistance every day of their lives.

I think the images we have seen on TV are of people who are in a desperate situation AND are still suffering from shock!

It doesn't help that only hours before the storm is when local governments said to evacuate the city and nationally our "pres" tells them to flee. I do not think any of the stopped to think what they were asking many of the people we see on TV today. Flee...how? Many of the folks left behind did not have the means to flee.

With evacuation orders should have come a plan to move those sick and infirm as will as the poorer folks. A lot of people wit the socio-economic background we are seeing live check to check more than most. Payday is today, a lot of good that is doing them.

I'd hate to think anyone would accuse me of coming to George Bush's defense, and while recent cuts in federal spending on LA projects may have exacerbated some of the effects, B-run's correct. The New Orleans area has been an accident waiting to happen for decades. The Corps of Engineers maintains rediculously gargantuan projects intending to protect the area from the inevitable. But disaster there was inevitable according to authorities familiar with the hydrology, geology, and geography of the area.

Like Aunty M and Wailuku, I wonder what NO and LA officials were doing ahead of the hurricaine with their state and local resources. There doesn't seem to be any indication that state and local government took any advance action other than issuing the evacuation directive. Unfortunate for the victims, but I suspect this tragedy is going to be "one for the books" after the disaster experts finish their various investigations.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

The Mormons have a booklet that lists all that you need to do to set aside enough food and supplies to live for one year. They use it in case the provider of the family dies or some other event. I have a copy and have found it very usesful. I can go off the grid tomorrow and be just fine.

"but the rich aren't dying. They could get out."


Anyone with a Brain could get out. I hitchhiked ,walked 250 miles slept in feilds ,barns etc lived on candy bars wahtever I could find for the 3 days it took when mount st. Helen's blew in 81. I made less that $3000 a year as a college student and $2500 of it was comitted to tuition and books room and baord etc. Leaving me with $1k in "disposable" income.

It's all about will and desire. Now the disabled and elderly and young are a different story.

You ear mark the funds to a charity and they are required by law to use it for that purpose of refund the money. Not ear marking it and it can go for any purpose.

TK walked 250 miles over 3 days in 1981 (sic; it blew in 1980) when Mt. St. Helens blew. Wow! How did he have any time to sleep in fields and barns, and still walk 250 miles in 3 days? Not only does TK have a brain, he’s super-human as well! Plus he hitch-hiked some unstated additional distance. Man, I gotta’ wonder where he was going to and from. I don’t know of anyone else who had to travel over 250 miles to escape the ravages of the Mt. St. Helens eruption.

You wouldn’t suppose this same level of accuracy applies to all TK’s other posts as well, would you?

With all the sarcasm it deserves,

Salmo g.

P.S: With your Mormon influenced supplies to shore you up, we'll all be over to your house when disaster strikes here. Thanks for letting us know!

Blame America or George Bush First-- blah blah blah.....

It's the freakin' worst natural diaster we've ever seen in this part of the world.

George Bush didn't wish this on anyone and it didn't happen because he didn't sign some hair-brained Kyoto treaty 5 months ago.

The Hurricane hit and the flood happened the next day--I'm sick of all these people asking why FEMA and the National Guard weren't there when it happened or within hours------Hello Mcfly--if they would have been in the area they would have been killed or rendered helpless just like the people that are in New Orleans are now and what ever machinery and supplies they would have brought with them would have been destroyed too.

It very telling of those who choose to spend more time assigning blame right now rather than just getting down on their knees and praying for these people and those trying to get them to safety.

The massive Hurricane and flood weren't any country or anyones fault.

It's not time to point fingers or try and make political gain---It's time to open up up your hearts and your wallets.

As usual Rory you are so far off base it is not even humorous. All you need to do is make a comparison between the relief efforts from prior year hurricanes and make the comparison to this particular one. Simple analysis even your pea brain could handle would demonstrate that the response times in this circumstance have been pathetic and unorganized.

Where was the preparedness prior to the hurricane. Why not mobilize the NG closer to the Gulf Coast rather than waiting for 2 days after the event? Protect your puppet at all costs, we know you don't care how silly you look!

SG,

Hitchhiked was before walking in my post.
Yes it was 1980 I graduated in 81 so I get them confused. I hitched most of the way. Most of the walk was from Ritzville to Pullman.
I avg. 4 miles an hour over broken ground Elk hunting with a full pack according to my GPS at 46 years old. How much you good for ol man?

Were you with your entire family of 6 half of them being under the age of 6?

Yeah, your analogy works real well. :rolleyes:

If you notice most of the people being shown on TV are families with small children and/or are elderly.

"Were you with your entire family of 6 half of them being under the age of 6?"

First off I would never have more kids than I was capable of taking care of specifically if I lived 8 feet below sea level and a cat 5 hurricane was parked out my front door for a week.
If I was I would even be more cautious and would have had them out of there long before the shait hit. It is a parents number 1 responsibility. I have a year or twos worth of provisions here enough vacume packed seeds and othe self sustaining items to last for years. I have taught my kids how to survive just for that very reason. I will not always be here and they need to know what to do.

No doubt about that Aunty but there ARE failures at the local, state and federal level.

To pin it on any one of them is wrong it is an example of the it will never happen here mentality. That and having some really poor prioritization of what is really important.

You hit the nail on the head when you said it was a lack of leadership. A complete lack of it at all levels.

It doesn't matter that you would never have that many kids. what matters is your claim that these people should have gotten out already. My point is there are entire families that were incapable of hitchiking out of New Oreans and your weak attempt to make a comparison to when you went on a hiking trip after St.Helens erupted. It is one thing to responsible for yourself and another to be responsible for an entire family and sometimes extended family.

Wacky,


Responsibility for anyones life over the age of 16 starts with the individual. The minute one gives that responsibilty to anyone else is where the right to cry about the out come stops. Anything you get from anyone else in this life is a blessing and a gift not a requirement.

You can post all of your nice ideals and pretend that is how you live. It only serves as an excuse for your lack of compassion for those less fortunate.

When are you dropping off the grid again??? No time like the present!

Again, I am in agreement with what you are saying AuntyM. Just telling people to flee is inadequate. Providing the means for those that do not have them would have been a baby step in the right direction.

You almost get the impression the Mayor or Governor was on his way out of town and as an afterthought decided to call the press to have them tell folks to leave. I know I forgot something what was it....oh yeah all the other people in the city!