check again it was a cat three when it came through New Orleans . and the SELA project was designed to maintain the levees which failed because the bush administration cut the funding and the repairs were not done ! and even after the levees failed the death toll would have been much less fi bush had not blocked any aid from getting to the people trapped by the flood . On Jan 20, 10:27 am, frankg <[email protected]> wrote: > VT, > > > Mayor had no one to drive the buses, maybe if their had > > been some National Guard to help evacuate the Poor, elderly > > and sick, you know the ones without the ability to leave without > > assistance? > > In case you weren’t aware, there ARE local, city and state government > agencies whose responsibility is to take care of their people prior to > and during a disaster. FEMA is a first responder. They are to respond > after the disaster, not before. FEMA can not be proud of how they > responded AFTER the disaster, but this bullshit attitude that somehow > it’s not the responsibility of local, city or state governments to get > their people safe beforehand is really disturbing. You’d think, since > they reviewed their evacuation plan just one year before Katrina as a > result of Ivan, that Nagin and Blanco would have understood the need > for drivers. That they didn’t have them available is a disgrace. That > you now want to lay blame for that on National Guardsmen not being > there to drive them is not only bullshit, but it’s fundamentally > wrong. That is NOT their role. > > Mike, > > > bush cut the funding for the SELA project to use the money in Iraq . > > which resulted in the failure of the levees killing thousands of > > Americans ! the storm did not cause very much damage to New Orleans > > the flooding from the river caused the damage . > > Bush cut funding, that is true. But the projects affected by the cuts > were only designed to sure up some weak spots, not fundamentally > change the design of the levees. The Army Corp of Engineers has made > it very clear that the levee system was not designed to withstand > anything worse than fast moving cat 3 storms. Katrina started out a > cat 5 and dropped to a cat 4 as it made landfall. The ACoE has > acknowledged that even without the cuts the levees would not have > saved the city. Is it possible some of the breaches might not have > occurred? It’s possible, but no one has gone so far as to make that > assessment. There was a full redesign project for the levee system > that was scheduled to be completed in 2015. > > In 2002, New Orleans officials held a simulation of what would happen > in a category 5 storm. Walter Maestri, the emergency coordinator of > Jefferson Parish in New Orleans , recounted the outcome to PBS’ NOW > With Bill Moyers: > > Maestri, September 2002: “Well, when the exercise was completed it was > evidence that we were going to lose a lot of people. We changed the > name of the [simulated] storm from Delaney to K-Y-A-G-B... kiss your > ass goodbye... because anybody who was here as that category five > storm came across... was gone.” > > Now, if you’re really interested in the root cause for the disaster > you might want to check out; > http://articles.latimes.com/2005/dec/25/nation/na-levee25 > There is a 20 year history of infighting and mismanagement of funds > PRIOR to Katrina. But I suspect you’re far more interested in blaming > Bush than you are in understanding the true causes of the disaster, so > I won’t hold my breath. > > It is not my intention to defend Bush or FEMA. They did some things > right but for the most part I still consider the response a failure > and at times embarrassing. But I will always argue the human toll > could have been, to a large extent, avoided had local, city and state > authorities done what they should have done and I think it’s tragic > that they’ve been given all but a free pass by those whose primary > goal is to blame Bush for everything. > > On Jan 20, 3:29 am, "liberal mike532 !" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > bush cut the funding for the SELA project to use the money in Iraq . > > which resulted in the failure of the levees killing thousands of > > Americans ! the storm did not cause very much damage to New Orleans > > the flooding from the river caused the damage . as for the slow > > response to help people in the city bush ordered Fema to stop all aid > > and assistance unless the Governor turned over control of the state to > > the federal government . > > > On Jan 19, 2:46 pm, VT Sean Lewis <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > George Bush's Legacy is the Failure that was Katrina > > > This was the anatomy to all of Bush's failures. > > > > Sean Lewis > > > January 19, 2009 > > > > Katrina was a Category 5 hurricane that slowly > > > moved across the Gulf of Mexico growing in > > > size and threat. > > > > Bush was briefed on the threat and warned about > > > the possible scenarios. > > > > People were giving warnings about the threat. > > > > Authorities were requesting help from Washington > > > specifically from the White House for help to deal > > > with the threat. > > > > The world was also aware of the threat. > > > > Bush was made aware of the threat, made some > > > public statements and then did no follow through > > > to actually prepare for the threat. > > > > The threat became a reality and all that was predicted > > > and warned about occurred. > > > > Bush did nothing. Bush did not end his vacation to > > > do his job, he was AWOL again. > > > > Americans suffered and died. > > > > Bush still did nothing. > > > > The press. the country and the world cried out for > > > something to be done. Rice went to NYC to buy > > > shoes. Bush went to a party, and the rest of the > > > Administration stayed on vacation. > > > > When Bush was finally shown a tape of what the > > > world had been watching 24/7 for 3 days, THEN and > > > only then did he react. > > > > He started by saying who could have predicted such > > > a threat and he had no warning. He took no > > > responsibility and put the blame on everyone > > > else from the victims to nature but he never saw > > > himself as being accountable for his failure to > > > anticipate and be proactive in dealing with this threat. > > > > This is the anatomy of every Bush failure from > > > 9/11 to the current economic meltdown. > > > > Bush denied there was a housing meltdown or a recession for > > > a year. Imagine if Bush had been proactive a year ago > > > in dealing with the housing meltdown and the economy? > > > Instead Bush denied there was a problem because his motives > > > and loyalty was to his political party and not the American > > > citizens he had sworn to serve and protect. > > > > Bush seemed to have risen beyond his pay-scale and was > > > more interested in mountain biking and playing at being > > > President than actually having the intellectual acumen to > > > BE president. > > > > When Bush was first elected I said the man could not handle > > > the job of being the President, but I consoled myself by > > > saying 'how much harm can he do?' > > > > 8 years later and for years to come in the future the failure > > > that was Bush, is the Legacy this country will have to contend > > > with along with the residue of the cascading collaspsing failures > > > left festering on the American landscape.- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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