[StBernard] Why not blame Clinton for hurricane?

[Westley Annis]

Published: Sep 12, 2006 

    
There has been a lot of discussion about who was at fault during Hurricane
Katrina. Quite a few people, including the governor and the mayor of New
Orleans, are blaming the government, i.e. the Bush administration. Since we
had the Clinton administration prior to that, and similar precautions were
in place, why not blame Clinton for not improving them?

I used to live in Chalmette, prior to moving to Baton Rouge in 1959, before
Hurricane Betsy flooded it, specifically because the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers had dug the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which allowed the Gulf
surge to flow into Chalmette.

The MRGO was not shut down and filled in as it should have been, probably
because of the port and New Orleans business interests, but maintained, and
the saltwater intrusion continued to poison the trees, shrubs and grass
which, prior to the MRGO, had slowed the water surge of prior hurricanes.

When watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I was astonished that
there were no flood gates between Lake Pontchartrain and the 17th Street
Canal, London Canal and other canals. This was a disaster waiting to happen,
and it did.

Where was the Levee Board, or is that just a board in name only?

As I recall, each year the Corps of Engineers higher-ups make an inspection
trip down the Mississippi and meet with local boards to plan for the future.
Did they and the Levee Board have their meetings in the French Quarter?

New Orleans used to have a saying, "The city that care forgot." Now I think
they can change that to "The city that the corps forgot."

T. Med Hogg
transportation consultant
Baton Rouge

Story originally published in The Advocate