[StBernard] Editorial: It's time for a nation to return the favor

[Westley Annis]

Times Picayune
Sunday, November 20, 2005

The federal government wrapped levees around greater New Orleans so that the
rest of the country could share in our bounty. 

Americans wanted the oil and gas that flow freely off our shores. They
longed for the oysters and shrimp and flaky Gulf fish that live in abundance
in our waters. They wanted to ship corn and soybeans and beets down the
Mississippi and through our ports. They wanted coffee and steel to flow
north through the mouth of the river and into the heartland. 

They wanted more than that, though. They wanted to share in our spirit. They
wanted to sample the joyous beauty of our jazz and our food. And we were
happy to oblige them. 

So the federal government built levees and convinced us that we were safe. 

We weren't. 

The levees, we were told, could stand up to a Category 3 hurricane. 

They couldn't. 

By the time Katrina surged into New Orleans, it had weakened to Category 3.
Yet our levee system wasn't as strong as the Army Corps of Engineers said it
was. Barely anchored in mushy soil, the floodwalls gave way. 

Our homes and businesses were swamped. Hundreds of our neighbors died. 

Now, this metro area is drying off and digging out. Life is going forward.
Our heart is beating. 

But we need the federal government -- we need our Congress -- to fulfill the
promises made to us in the past. We need to be safe. We need to be able to
go about our business feeding and fueling the rest of the nation. We need
better protection next hurricane season than we had this year. Going
forward, we need protection from the fiercest storms, the Category 5 storms
that are out there waiting to strike. 

Some voices in Washington are arguing against us. We were foolish, they say.
We settled in a place that is lower than the sea. We should have expected to
drown. 

As if choosing to live in one of the nation's great cities amounted to a
death wish. As if living in San Francisco or Miami or Boston is any more
logical. 

Great cities are made by their place and their people, their beauty and
their risk. Water flows around and through most of them. And one of the
greatest bodies of water in the land flows through this one: the
Mississippi. 

The federal government decided long ago to try to tame the river and the
swampy land spreading out from it. The country needed this waterlogged land
of ours to prosper, so that the nation could prosper even more. 

Some people in Washington don't seem to remember that. They act as if we are
a burden. They act as if we wore our skirts too short and invited trouble. 

We can't put up with that. We have to stand up for ourselves. Whether you
are back at home or still in exile waiting to return, let Congress know that
this metro area must be made safe from future storms. Call and write the
leaders who are deciding our fate. Get your family and friends in other
states to do the same. Start with members of the Environment and Public
Works and Appropriations committees in the Senate, and Transportation and
Appropriations in the House. Flood them with mail the way we were flooded by
Katrina. 

Remind them that this is a singular American city and that this nation still
needs what we can give it.


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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), Louisiana's fund for
Louisiana's people, has been established by Governor Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco in order to support long-term family restoration and recovery and
help provide assistance to our citizens in need through a network of
Louisiana charities and non-profit agencies. 

1-877-HELPLA1 (877-435-7521) www.louisianahelp.org