USA flooding
It is easy to blame the government and maybe they are due some blame - but hindsight is 20/20.
So to those who's kneejerk reaction is to attack the government here is clinton
(http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005360.php)
CLINTON: Let me answer this. The people in the Superdome are in a special position. And let me say, I've been going to New Orleans for over 50 years. There's no place on earth I love more. They went into the Superdome, not because of the flooding, but because we thought the hurricane was going to hit New Orleans smack dab and they'd be safe in there if they didn't leave town.
What happened was, when the levee broke and the town flooded, what did it do? It knocked out the electricity and it knocked out the sewage. They're living in hellacious conditions. They would be better off under a tree than being stuck there. You can't even breathe in that place now.
So I understand why they're so anxiety-ridden. But they have to understand, by the time it became obvious that they were in the fix they were in, there were a lot of other problems, too. There were people -- they were worried about people drowning that had to be taken off roofs.
................
CLINTON: Yes, I think that's important to point out. Because when you say that they should have done this, that or the other thing first, you can look at that problem in isolation, and you can say that.
But look at all the other things they had to deal with. I'm telling you, nobody thought this was going to happen like this. But what happened here is they escaped -- New Orleans escaped Katrina. But it brought all the water up the Mississippi River and all in the Pontchartrain, and then when it started running and that levee broke, they had problems they never could have foreseen.
And so I just think that we need to recognize right now there's a confident effort under way. People are doing the best they can. And I just don't think it's the time to worry about that. We need to keep people alive and get them back to life -- normal life.
So to those who's kneejerk reaction is to attack the government here is clinton
(http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005360.php)
CLINTON: Let me answer this. The people in the Superdome are in a special position. And let me say, I've been going to New Orleans for over 50 years. There's no place on earth I love more. They went into the Superdome, not because of the flooding, but because we thought the hurricane was going to hit New Orleans smack dab and they'd be safe in there if they didn't leave town.
What happened was, when the levee broke and the town flooded, what did it do? It knocked out the electricity and it knocked out the sewage. They're living in hellacious conditions. They would be better off under a tree than being stuck there. You can't even breathe in that place now.
So I understand why they're so anxiety-ridden. But they have to understand, by the time it became obvious that they were in the fix they were in, there were a lot of other problems, too. There were people -- they were worried about people drowning that had to be taken off roofs.
................
CLINTON: Yes, I think that's important to point out. Because when you say that they should have done this, that or the other thing first, you can look at that problem in isolation, and you can say that.
But look at all the other things they had to deal with. I'm telling you, nobody thought this was going to happen like this. But what happened here is they escaped -- New Orleans escaped Katrina. But it brought all the water up the Mississippi River and all in the Pontchartrain, and then when it started running and that levee broke, they had problems they never could have foreseen.
And so I just think that we need to recognize right now there's a confident effort under way. People are doing the best they can. And I just don't think it's the time to worry about that. We need to keep people alive and get them back to life -- normal life.
posted by Genius at 8:10 PM
2 Comments:
AS much as I might long for the days of a competent President here in the US President Clinton is just plain wrong here. "they had problems they never could have foreseen"
study after study after study said this was going to happen. But The US government under the leadership of President Bush made funding cuts to both FEMA and engineering projects that might have prevented failure of the leevee. The most damning part is the total mismanagement of the response to the storm. New orleans may have escaped Katrina but ou rgovernment's ineptiness killed the city.
> study after study after study said this was going to happen.
1) there is a difference between saying "somthing will happen in 50 years" and saying x will happen and Y will prevent it. the problem is you may well spend all day building dams and still not achieve anything
2) the real solution is to not have cities below water level. or where water will not just run off.
Having said that the agency probably screwed up (they always do) and I'm sure chopping some heads off will keep those left on their toes.
Also I note New Orleans seems to be a fairly disfunctional society.
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