More unnatural aspects of a natural disaster

I was reading this article about how what a complete and utter mess New Orleans is now ("I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour after touring the destruction by air Tuesday) and I realize that I have an answer to that question the radio announcer asked us the other day in front of the theater.  I used to think hell would be living in Baghdad but now I'm not sure if New Orleans at the moment wouldn't be about the same.

How did we let this happen?  We've known for years how woefully unprepared that city was for a major hurricane.  What is really outrageous is that they had a flood control project up until recently.  What happened to it?  This article by Will Bunch from Common Dreams says:

"After 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward [a flood control project] dropped to a trickle. The [Army] Corps [of Engineers] never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars."

People should be really mad about this.  What kind of country spends so much money on an unjustified aggressive invasions of other countries that it fails to provide for basic safety for even its own citizens by cutting funding to keep a major urban center in a hurricane prone area from flooding? 

What kind of country does this?  One run by an administration as selfish and short-sighted as this one.  An empire this poorly managed doesn't manage to stay an empire for very long. 

Comments

[Mayana]

Hello -

I have gotten into the habit of reading your blog and LOVE IT!!! I like the political and the personal makes me always chuckle. It's just interesting - you have a great casual writing style. I apologize for introducing myself with the below comments but you're right people SHOULD be angry.

And second I like to call them the Army Corps of EXPERIMENTERS. This is human life but what about them destroying the everglades historically to present:
JACKSONVILLE, Florida, April 15, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued permits that approve limestone mining in at least 5,409 acres of historic Everglades wetlands in Florida.

In 1926 and 1928 there were bad hurricanes and widespread flooding in southern Florida. The floods killed many people, so in 1930 the Army Corps of Engineers built the Hoover Dike to keep the lake from flooding again. This also kept water from running to the Everglades.

In Florida, the corps straightened the meandering Kissimmee River to improve flood control. The project was counter productive because it destroyed the river basin's ability to absorb and slowly release flood waters. The project also destroyed thousands of acres of productive wetlands.

[barb]

Oh my lord, yes, I agree, it is a HUGE mess down there. What they've done to the Everglades is almost unbelievable. Isn't it one of the biggest f--- ups of one of the most important natural areas of our country?! It reminds me of the tragi-comedy of our species the way we make colossal messes all over the planet. Our bumbling is funny, pathetic and sad at the same time.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment!

[Limey]

I certainly agree with your last sentence. Another question that could be asked is 'what sort of people choose to live in a city that is 4 ft below the sea-level, surrounded by water and slap back in the middle of a hurricane zone'?

[Ajayi Harris]

This whole event has done a good job of bringing out the worst in ppl. The media's portrayal of black ppl as both victims and looters, the Bush admin cutting the funding for the Army Corps of Engineers to fix levies, charities tripping over one another to get there and help, the government's response, the fact the poor people 'choose' to live below sea-level, and why the does it take 4 days for the US to help the US? THis is not our finest hour.