[lbo-talk] Regarding NOLA, Mississippi and Alabama

[Matthew Snyder]

snitsnat <snitilicious at tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> So, FEMA, and I know they do work hard and I"m not knocking the individuals
> and well meaning people who work there, but FEMA doesn't seem to know
> _what_ to do with this mess. Every hurricane that looks like it might come
> close to NOLA is always accompanied by discussion of the Bowl. No one
> thought about a disaster recovery plan in the event something like this
> happened? WHAT?

It looks to have been a combination of the outright elimination of the
very program -- Project Impact -- that was responsible for exactly
this type of situation, and a larger shift of FEMA's focus from
natural disasters to homeland security / counter-terrorism.  The Bush
administration axed Project Impact in 2001.  Jordan mentioned the
depressing irony of having the high-water vehicles from the LA
National Guard currently sitting in the desert in Iraq... on the same
general note:

"In February 2001, for example, the Bush administration proposed
eliminating Project Impact, a move approved by Congress later in the
year. (On the very day the White House proposal was submitted, a
magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked Washington state, which was home to
several communities where Project Impact had sponsored quake
mitigation efforts.)"

That's from Google's cache of a lengthy article on the FEMA cuts in
"Best of New Orleans" -- the site is currently down, probably due to
lack of power.

<http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:zDJDVw_xfpUJ:www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2004-09-28/cover_story.html>

But this isn't just about budgeting and scoring political points.  A
friend recommended John McPhee's account, in "The Control of Nature,"
of the failed attempts of the Army Corps of Engineers to control the
(then-)potential flooding damage in New Orleans.

<http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/05/specials/mcphee-control.html>

--
Matthew Snyder
Philadelphia, PA