Questions I Have for the Army Corps of Engineers
On reading this Washington Post story about the Army Corps of Engineers work in New Orleans:
1. Why has it taken so long to *break ground*, much less finish, new protections for the West Bank of New Orleans, especially given that the population was returning to earlier levels?
2. What are the rules about residents returning to areas threatened by catastrophic flooding, as the West Bank is?
3. What should West Bank residents do to make sure they'll be prepared for Katrina-level storms, since it's clear that the Army Corps isn't going to have the systems to prevent flooding in place at least until 2011?
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Government Executive Staff Correspondent Alyssa Rosenberg takes a look at news affecting the management and operations of the massive federal bureaucracy.
the real question is why has the state of LA and the Mayor of NO allowed those people to move back into the flood plain. In any other state or city those low level locations can't be rebuilt and if they are there is no fed insurance.
dan m ketter Posted Wednesday, November 4, 2009 2:14 PMNot that these are "official" answers, but you may want to consider the following -
1. The question about "taking so long to break ground" might best be answered by the wonderful character collection we call Congress. (Think Power of the Purse.)
2. The rules don't apply to people who insist on moving right back into the same danger zone - just as they do no apply to people who keep rebuilding in known flood zones when the current water crisis subsides. (Again and again and...)
3. The West Bank residents should consider the full impact of such storms and take responsibility for their own destiny instead of depending on the Corps (or any other agency) to look out for them. In spite of the campaign speeches, the Government can not and should not "take care" of every person in the country - especially those that are either too lazy or too stupid to take care of themselves. (Remember, you can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.)
Bud Posted Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:07 PMIn a remarkable document [mea culpa] for a bureacracy, the USACOE has admitted to 5 decades in failure in NOLA due to conflicts of interests and bad technical decisions. The report URL is in a book report I did for the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and will e-mail to Alyssa. Basically Katrina was largely a natural disaster in Alabama and Mississippi but a human aggravated disaster in NOLA.
William R. Cumming Posted Friday, November 6, 2009 11:54 AM