Reply With QuoteThe Rats are so far out of touch they should be on Mars!
> Here is the story in New Orleans as per Vald Heiberg:
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> > I was the District Engineer in New Orleans in the '70's as we fought the "Greens" over putting two huge "Dutch style" flood gates at the east end of Lake Ponchartrain. That was the Corps plan, to allow us to protect ALL of the lake shore and to keep the levees where needed along the lake (especially at New Orlean s) lower. The soil conditions near the big Lake are atrocious, unlike along the Mississippi River where centuries of natural levees with far better soil exists. Higher levees near the Lake clearly was the wrong answer for the hurricane protection. I even invited all our "green" attackers to Vicksburg, flying them there for a day in 1975, to visit with the world's best model and hydraulic experts at the Corps labs.
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> But I didn't convince those rabid "greens," and they sued the Corps to stop those massive flood gates. A Federal judge agreed with them: "Just build those New Orleans levees higher", we were told in court.
>
> Meantime, Dutch, British, and Italian engineers visited our Vicksburg experts to get their facts right for their projects, and they built systems providing far more protection. For the Dutch, they protect their urban areas against > 10,000 year flood events. The Congress allows the Corps to build to (at most) 100- or 200-y ear protection.
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> In 1986, the Corps finally gave up the decade-long fight to keep those huge gates. That concession was perhaps my biggest error as the Corps' "Chief," but there simply was no support from the Federal courts or the Congress who assumed "higher levees are the answer."
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> Katrina showed everyone the error of abandoning those huge flood gates, yet that story remains poorly told. There are some critics who say "It wouldn't have made that much a difference." I am certain they are wrong, and know that future hurricanes will be far better handled by a flood gate system more like the Dutch, Brits, and Italians have chosen. But in the '70's and beyond, the "greens" had the upper hand. Perhaps now, with the waste and chaos of Katrina and Rita behind us, our future protection will include those large flood surge gates! I have provided these thoughts to the chair of the National Academies committee who are studying "the big picture" for future N ew Orleans hurricane flooding protection.
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> Now you know "the rest of the story" . . . and I was there. Too bad the author of that scurrilous attack on the Army Corps of Engineers didn't know his/her facts. And I hope you find a way to share this with those who saw your earlier piece.
>
> Vald Heiberg Commander, New Orleans District '74-'75
> Member, Mississippi River Commission, '75-'78
> Director, Civil Works, Corps of Engineers, '79-'82
> Deputy Commander, Corps of Engineers, '82-'83
> Commander and "Chief of Engineers", Army Corps of Engineers, '84-'88
The Rats are so far out of touch they should be on Mars!
The Rats are so far out of touch they should be on Mars!
Kinda like.......................
Kinda like.......................
YOU !
The original stroy of the levees also stated that the Bush administration CUT the $$$$ for the levees. The fact of the matter was the budget was not reduced. The Army Copr of Engineers did not get what they wanted but the budget was still INCREASED by several million. When asked if they had received the budget amount that they requested, would the levees have failed. Answer - Yes!....Then stop your whining!
Uhe US Congress, the only place in teh world where, if you get more $$$ than last year, but less than you asked for, the increase is a CUT.
The original stroy of the levees also stated that the Bush administration CUT the $$$$ for the levees. The fact of the matter was the budget was not reduced. The Army Copr of Engineers did not get what they wanted but the budget was still INCREASED by several million. When asked if they had received the budget amount that they requested, would the levees have failed. Answer - Yes!....Then stop your whining!
No they wouldn`t have. See I live in East Jefferson Parish. Our levees were/are fine. They are much thicker even the sheet piling and concrete than Orleans parish. When I say thicker I meen 5 x`s thicker. And I see them everyday so its not an exaggeration. But East Jefferson is the tax base for the state. And housing is much higher here. This side flooded because the dumbace parish president Aaron Broussard evacuated the pump operators to Mississippi and couldn`t get them back after the storm.
Evacuated the pump operators!??!?!!?!? What a dumasssss. I have to compare it to the USAF. A buddy of mine was AF Security Police in the Philipenes when Mt Pinatubo blew. They had enough warning to take everything of high value off the island (airplanes and unneeded personell). There was still USAF property there (buildings, ground maintenance equipment, vehicles, etc), guess who got to stay? Yep, the Security Police, and the Firemen I believe. :skull:
Guess I'm strange. I would have thought that, in a city below sea level, with a risk of FLOODING, that the operators & maintainers of pumping stations would be a mandatory "shelter in place". More fine planning. I'm pleased you weren't damaged worse HOSS. :boxed:
Well I don`t see ANY incumbants retaining their seats. Yeah, Emergency Medical Personnel, Fire, Police and probably 1/8 of the citizens could stay but not the pump operators. Funny. I stayed. He said the buildings that house the pumps couldn`t stand up to a Cat 5 storm. My question is why? We have over 10 billion dollars of taxpayers money invested in pumps in there. Anyway, after the storm there was no damadge to the pump stations. But it gets waaaay better. Kenner PD stopped by my house in a duece and a half and told me they had the pump operators on 2 way. They were gonna kick the doors in by order of the cheif (Nick Congemi) and have the guys walk them through pump operations. Aaron Broussard orderred the officers to stand down or face criminal tresspassing and negligence charges. By the way, Nick also stopped by my house. This guy Broussard stayed at my neighbors house right behind me one night. If I`d a known then what I know now,,,,,,he`d be one ICU`d sumbitch.
So the moral of the story is if`n you feel like kickin someones ass,,,kick it! But kick it hard. And make damn sure he`s a politician.
DemoRats... RepubRats... what is the difference???
Video shows Bush, Chertoff warned before Katrina
From staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON On the day before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the head of the National Hurricane Center told President Bush that the city's levees were "a very, very grave concern," a newly released videotape shows.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-warning_x.htm
Bush's Katrina problem just got bigger
Posted by Frank James at 8:56 pm CST
Today's Associated Press report about videotape of a videoconference in which President Bush was told before Hurricane Katrina's landfall that the storm would be hugely catastrophic and that there was concern that New Orleans' levees might fail is a stunning piece of bad news for the White House.
What makes this revelation particularly bad for Bush is that it directly contradicts his by now famous statement on the Good Morning America television show days after the hurricane. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he said.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...katrina_p.html
I can hardly wait for the spin to begin...and for fools to believe it....
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