New Orleans: Et nærmere kig på dige-sagen
Salt Lake Tribune havde i forgårs en artikel af Rich Lowry, der så lidt nærmere på "Bush gav ikke digerne omkring New Orleans nok penge"-beskyldningerne:
The ''more funding for levees'' argument perpetuates a common misperception. The long-standing earthen levees surrounding the city did not fail. It was the floodwalls around the drainage canals that protrude into New Orleans that were overwhelmed. One breach seems to have been caused by a barge breaking loose from its moorings and battering down one of the walls. Will Nancy Pelosi now accuse Bush of underfunding barge moorings?
It is still a matter of debate what caused the other breaches. One expert at the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune that he suspects a ''catastrophic structural failure.'' Another expert suggested that ''the flaw may not be in the design but in the construction or materials.''
So the flooding didn't result from old levees desperately needing more funding. In fact, the section of 17th Street canal where a major breach occurred had just been upgraded, and The New York Times writes ''received more attention and shoring up than many other spots in the region.'' Even if Bush had larded more money on New Orleans - according to a broad-brush comparison in The Washington Post, he spent more in his first five years in office than Bill Clinton did in his last five - it wouldn't have stopped such a breach.
Han tager derefter et nærmere kig på New Orleans Levee Board, staten New Orleans´ organisation der bla står for vedligeholdelse af digerne:
The Orleans Levee Board, the state agency charged with protecting the levees, is so notorious that it makes Bush's FEMA look like a paragon of professionalism. Former president of the board Billy Nungesser, who was ousted after trying to reform it, says: ''Every time I turned over a rock, there was something rotten. I used to tell people, 'If your children ever die in a hurricane, come shoot us, because we're responsible.' We threw away all sorts of money.''
The board operates an airport, two marinas, and has a private police force that Nungesser says ''wears more gold braid than Gen. MacArthur when he went to the Philippines.'' The board just spent $2.4 million on a Mardi Gras Fountain near Lake Pontchartrain. NBC News reports that the board spent $15 million on building overpasses to a riverboat casino, and paid $45,000 to a private investigator to find dirt on a board critic - followed by another $45,000 to settle the resulting lawsuit. Feeling dry yet?
Alligevel får Bush skylden.
Henrik
The ''more funding for levees'' argument perpetuates a common misperception. The long-standing earthen levees surrounding the city did not fail. It was the floodwalls around the drainage canals that protrude into New Orleans that were overwhelmed. One breach seems to have been caused by a barge breaking loose from its moorings and battering down one of the walls. Will Nancy Pelosi now accuse Bush of underfunding barge moorings?
It is still a matter of debate what caused the other breaches. One expert at the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune that he suspects a ''catastrophic structural failure.'' Another expert suggested that ''the flaw may not be in the design but in the construction or materials.''
So the flooding didn't result from old levees desperately needing more funding. In fact, the section of 17th Street canal where a major breach occurred had just been upgraded, and The New York Times writes ''received more attention and shoring up than many other spots in the region.'' Even if Bush had larded more money on New Orleans - according to a broad-brush comparison in The Washington Post, he spent more in his first five years in office than Bill Clinton did in his last five - it wouldn't have stopped such a breach.
Han tager derefter et nærmere kig på New Orleans Levee Board, staten New Orleans´ organisation der bla står for vedligeholdelse af digerne:
The Orleans Levee Board, the state agency charged with protecting the levees, is so notorious that it makes Bush's FEMA look like a paragon of professionalism. Former president of the board Billy Nungesser, who was ousted after trying to reform it, says: ''Every time I turned over a rock, there was something rotten. I used to tell people, 'If your children ever die in a hurricane, come shoot us, because we're responsible.' We threw away all sorts of money.''
The board operates an airport, two marinas, and has a private police force that Nungesser says ''wears more gold braid than Gen. MacArthur when he went to the Philippines.'' The board just spent $2.4 million on a Mardi Gras Fountain near Lake Pontchartrain. NBC News reports that the board spent $15 million on building overpasses to a riverboat casino, and paid $45,000 to a private investigator to find dirt on a board critic - followed by another $45,000 to settle the resulting lawsuit. Feeling dry yet?
Alligevel får Bush skylden.
Henrik
posted by Henrik | 12:37 PM
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