[StBernard] Please watch YouTube video today!

[Westley Annis]

I saw this scene in Treme and it really bothered me.  I suspected it would
create a "bad" image of New Orleanians - and I was right.  I've spoken with
a few friends who are spread around the country and they thought the same
thing.  It made us look crude and uneducated.  It didn't garner us any
additional support.

Also, the argument made by the program was to some extent disingenuous.  It
definitely misleads people into thinking the federal government was
responsible for EVERYTHING as if they forced levees down our throats.  The
fact is, from day one local leaders urged the federal government to
construct a levee system around New Orleans.  Engineers built the best
system they could for the budget allowed.  There were NEVER any guarentees
they levee system would never fail.  In fact, the government and other
organizations over the past 30+ years have created documentaries depicted
how  a powerful hurricane could easily overrun the levee protection system.
So what Katrina did was already well known by most.

When local and state officials first urged the feds to build a levee system,
it immediately stopped the Mississippi river from naturally doing what it
had done for centuries to ward off damage from storms - it stopped
replenishing marsh and wetland area with rich nutrients and sediments that
helped build land and serve as a buffer beginning at the Gulf of Mexico.
Sure, the city experienced flooding, but the flood waters quickly receded.
So, "we" asked for levees.  Documents from way back when show how experts
with the federal government warned us that while levees would help in one
respect, they would also create damage to our protective wetlands and could
actually create more flooding in New Orleans should a storm surge ever cap
the levees - such as what happened to St. Bernard.

I can't help but find the levees.org group as nothing more than an attempt
for some lawyers to make big bucks off of a law suit by stirring up locals
with false expectations.  The fact is we all knew and continue to know the
nature of where we live.  We knew we lived in a dangerous area that was
prone to destruction.  So why the shock and surprise when Katrina hit?
After all, if we truly, really thought we were guarenteed protection by the
levee system, then why did anyone evacuate? Hmmmm.

I'll bet that's a tough one for the levees.org folks to answer.  But they
have plent of lawyers working for them, I'm sure they could come up with
some good legal bable in response.

- John