The Resposibility of the Army Corps of Engineers

[USViking]

A catastrophe this huge is the result of blameworthy behavior
by many people, with doing nothing being a form of such behavior.

The first sentence my Political Science 101 Professor said
in September, 1968- 37 years ago almost to the day, was that
the Army Corps Of Engineers was, and I quote:

"The lobby that can't be beat".

Guess who built the God Damn levees that failed.

The levees might well have held up under a Category Three Hurricane,
which is what they were built to withstand.

I would like to know how hard the Corps, this unbeatable lobby,
pushed for upgrades during the last 20 years or so.

They were in the midst of a "feasibility study" a la Dilbert
when Katrina hit.

To be completely fair, I may as well cite a link that puts
the Army Corps of Engineers in a decent light, even if it
is from Mother Jones:

http://www.motherjones.com/commenta...ew_orleans.html

(from the link):

The levees might have been buttressed and repaired had the administration responded to a 2001 FEMA study warning that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But instead of honoring the Army Corps of Engineers' request to strengthen and renovate levees and pumping stations, the Bush administration cut the flood control budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers by $71 million, 44 percent of its budget.

Now, New Orleans has over 20 miles of levees,
and the link does not say if the sections breached
were a priority for upgrade.

We will be having several months of Congressional
and other committee hearings, so perhaps the status
of pre-hurricane plans for the levees will be clearly
spelled out.

One thing, the over 20 miles of lakefront levees all held up,
and all the breaches occurred in canal levees perpendicular to the lakefront,
as far as I have been able to see from news reports.

This tells me that the hydodynamics of the situation
was not correctly thought out- it seems the canal
levees were far more vulnerable than the lakefront levees,
and who besides the Army Corps of Engineers
could be resposible for this critical scientific lapse?

 

[KarlMarx]

who besides the Army Corps of Engineers
could be resposible for this critical scientific lapse?

well, for one, perhaps the Sierra Club....

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/berlau200509080824.asp

 

[USViking]

well, for one, perhaps the Sierra Club....

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/berlau200509080824.asp

The relevant part of my post concerns specifically,
the canal levees, which are not areas
where hardwood forests and Louisiana
black bears are any part of the issue.

Having said that, I would agree the safety
of human beings takes priority over trees
and bears, and I hope the Sierra and others
of thier ilk are bulldozed out of the way if
they dare make a peep concerning levee upgrades.