NOLA Survivors Should Be So Lucky

Yesterday it was reported that the state of Virginia, nearly a year after the Virginia Tech massacre took place, will be awarding the families of the students killed $100,000 per student in compensation.

This got me to thinking about the comparison of this issue and how the survivors of the failure of NOLA's federally-maintained levees are being treated.

For NOLA flood survivors who lost family members including breadwinners due to this massive manmade catastrophe not only are not seeing one red cent in compensation for these individuals. We are witnessing mainstream media silence about the culpability of a federal goverment which should have kept up these levees and a Bush Administration which first cut the funding for these levees back in 2001 in the first place.

Instead, BushCo and its corporate media mouthpieces, on the extremely rare occasions this issue has been covered, have been spouting the Big Lie that the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana had been responsible for levee maintenance and upkeep.

So it's as if, unlike the lives of the young people at VA Tech which had so tragically been cut short, the lives of those who drowned in New Orleans matter not one whit to a federal government desirous of absolving itself of its guilt in their deaths. I mean, of course, you can't put a price on a human life and similar cliches, but such money might help the bereaved put their lives back together.

When conservative guru Grover Norquist uttered his now-infamous mantra about making government so small you could drown it in a bathtub, little did he know how appropriate this metaphor would be regarding BushCo's drowning of New Orleans.

But back to flood survivors who lost family members on 8/29. They deserve, and should demand, the same attention, respect, and above all compensation received by the surviving family members of the VA Tech students--or of 9/11, for that matter. And they need to demand it loudly in a way other Americans and the mainstream media can hear.

And we ourselves can do our part by participating in the following, which will focus the DKos community's attention on all issues involving New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region:

NOLA/GULF BLOGATHON--ALL TIMES PACIFIC

Thurs., Apr. 17

7AM Louisiana 1976

9AM commonscribe

11AM

1PM mlharges

3PM

5PM alpelican

Fri., Apr. 18

7AM

9AM

11AM

1PM

3PM

5PM

If you'd like to participate, please let me know which time you'd like to take and let me know in the comments. Again, thanks to all!

•  Tips, mojo, moral support.....

  not just for me but for New Orleans!

  by Louisiana 1976 on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 07:25:24 AM PDT

•  Was there ever a question about this?

  ... the lives of those who drowned in New Orleans matter not one whit to a federal government desirous of absolving itself of its guilt in their deaths.

  The problem of the Bush administration not caring for the people in New Orleans existed long before Katrina. And it's not only New Orleans.

  George Bush cares for no-one other than himself. His administration cares for no-one under the top 10% of Americans in terms of wealth.

  by fritzrth on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 07:44:15 AM PDT

  •  Well said.....

    it was New Orleans that brought these problems out into the open.

    New Orleans is the canary in our coal mine. What happened in New Orleans will sooner or later start happening elsewhere unless major changes are made soon.

    by Louisiana 1976 on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 07:50:44 AM PDT

•  I think the government should be helping

  that can no longer support themselves due to Katrina, but paying off every victim is nothing more than a PR gesture.  This money would be better used to improve the still vulnerable levee system from future storms.  If another Katrina like storm happens this summer, all of the money that's been poured into NOLA since Katrina will be completely wasted.

  The said truth about the whole situation is that no one at the local, state, or federal level did even close to enough to educate residents, ensure a proper evacuation system was in place that protected those that couldn't evacuate themselves, or ensure a proper response mechanism was in place a ready to go when the inevitable happened.  Instead of partisan bickering between the state and federal governments, we should learn lessons and ensure this does not happen again.

  by MelloY on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 08:24:12 AM PDT

  •  Sorry- it was Bush's fault, not LA officials

    bus evacuation stopped:

    Peter Pantuso of the American Bus Association said he spent much of the day on Wednesday, Aug. 31, trying to find someone at the Federal Emergency Management Agency who could tell him how many buses were needed for an evacuation, where they should be sent and who was overseeing the effort. This is a group of companies that could, if asked, rapidly provide large amounts of transportation.
          Instead the agency had farmed the work out to a trucking logistics firm, Landstar Express America, which in turn hired a limousine company, which in turn engaged a travel management company. Landstar Express is a subsidiary of Landstar System, a $2 billion company whose board chairman, Jeff Crowe, also was chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the nation's premier business lobbies, from June 2003 until May 2004.
    Jeff Crowe owns LandStar Express that had a $100million contract with FEMA to provide emergency evacuation services. LandStar Express didn't start working on the New Orleans evacuation until TWO DAYS AFTER Katrina hit. Then they subcontracted to a limo company who subcontracted to a Virginia travel agent...
They were trying to find 300 buses.
    Meanwhile Greyhound and another company were trying to contact FEMA to offer 3500 buses at cost.
    For this idiocy, LandStar's contract has been raised to $400million.

    Meanwhile
    Looking for buses
    Members of Blanco's staff were struggling to find buses and get them to where they were needed.
    The first mention of buses among her top advisers comes from Chief of Staff Andy Kopplin, who sends out a missive to many in the executive ranks. "We need you to find buses that can go to N.O. asap," Kopplin wrote.
    In an e-mail, Kim Hunter Reed, Blanco's policy director, complained on the afternoon of August 31 that she needs to know where to send the needed assistance.
    "I am getting these calls to (sic) and I have buses and water but can't get word on where and how to send," wrote Reed, who in a separate note that same day also said she needed direction from the Louisiana State Police and the American Red Cross.
    According to the timeline, Blanco says she learns late Wednesday, Aug. 31, that "a number of the promised FEMA buses are finally crossing into N. Louisiana, 7 or 8 hours away from New Orleans."

    Sunday, August 28
     MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES FIRST EVER MANDATORY EVACUATION OF NEW ORLEANS:
         "We're facing the storm most of us have feared," said Nagin. "This is going to be an unprecedented event." [Times-Picayune]
    "Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to evacuate themselves."
    This is referring to evacuating people to an emergency shelter within the city, not evacuating people to points outside the city. The Mayor did implement an emergency bussing system that evacuated the city's poor and disabled to the Superdome. This can be verified by reading the plan at
    http://www.cityofno.com/...

    Thursday, September 1
     MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES "DESPERATE SOS" TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
    "This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention centre and don't anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention centre is unsanitary and unsafe and we're running out of supplies."

    DHS failed to use catastrophe response plan in Katrina's wake

    The Homeland Security Department did not use a plan for handling catastrophes in its response to Hurricane Katrina, even though some officials say that doing so could have saved lives and brought the chaotic situation in New Orleans under control.
         The department didn't activate a section of the National Response Plan
    http://www.dhs.gov/...

    TRENT LOTT, MS SENATOR, DIVERTS SHIP BASED HELP TO MS. NOT JUST ONE SHIP-TWO

    From the Chicago Tribune, September 4, 2005:  The US Bataan:
    "While federal and state emergency planners scramble to get more military relief to Gulf Coast communities stricken by Hurricane Katrina, a massive naval goodwill station has been cruising offshore, underused and waiting for a larger role in the effort.
    "The USS Bataan, a 844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore."
    Tyson dispatched a landing craft from her ship -- 90 miles up the Mississippi River to New Orleans, carrying medical personnel, food, water.  It was over halfway there when it was ordered back to the Bataan because the Bataan itself had been ordered to Mississippi

    Investigation finds Red Cross agreed to withhold Orleans aid, operates in tandem with Homeland Security
    http://rawstory.com/...

    in Blanco's testimony before Congress:
    "I requested massive federal assistance in letters to President Bush on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 -- before the storm's landfall," she said in one. "I spoke with President Bush on Sunday (Aug. 28) and Monday (Aug. 29) and told him I needed everything he had. I believed FEMA officials who told me that every federal resource was at my disposal. I believed this meant every single available resource."
    Later on in the talking points document, she responds to a hypothetical question about what she did wrong in response to Katrina.
    "I believe my biggest mistake was believing FEMA officials who told me that the necessary federal resources would be available in a timely fashion," she said."

    The Original can be viewed on line at:
    http://www.nolarises.com/...

    by azureblue on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 08:44:17 AM PDT

    •  Thanks.....

      so much for posting this! Would you like to write and post a diary for next month's NOLA/Gulf Blogathon? If so, what date and time?

      by Louisiana 1976 on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 08:48:48 AM PDT

•  Thank you

  for your continued effort to keep New Orleans' plight on the radar. I know it feels thankless, but your efforts are appreciated. here are a few tidbits about Bush's string of failures, the first showing how Bush caused the flooding of new Orleans:

  It is simple: no money to repair, things (levees) fail. The ACOE gets blamed rightly, but the truth is the ACOE had been begging for money rom Bush & Bush kept cutting the fund to rebuild the levees and stopping work in progress:
  February 2001
  Bush proposed half of what his own officials said was necessary for the critical Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project (SELA)--a project started after a 1995 rainstorm flooded 25,000 homes and caused a half billion dollars in damage
  February 2002
  Bush provided just $5 million for maintaining and upgrading critical hurricane protection levees in New Orleans--one fifth of what government experts and Republican elected officials in Louisiana told the administration was needed. Bush knew SELA needed $80 million to keep working, but the he only proposed providing a quarter of that.
  February 2004
  The SELA project sought $100 million to strengthen the levees holding back the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, including the industrial canal- which is where the levee gave way, but Bush offered only $16.5 million. The Army Corps of Engineers asked for $27 million to pay for hurricane protection upgrades around Lake Pontchartrain--but the White House cut that to $3.9 million. Levee repairs around Lake Pontchartrain and the IC, stopped because of budget shortfalls.

  Comparing previous disaster responses:
  President Nixon -- August 1969 when Cat-5 Hurricane Camille hit the MS coast, President Nixon had already readied the National Guard and ordered all Gulf rescue vessels and equipment from Tampa and Houston to follow the Hurricane in. There were over 1,000 regular military with two dozen helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard within hours after the skies cleared.

  President Clinton -- September 1999, Hurricane Floyd -- Cat-3, was bearing down on the Carolinas and Virginia. President Clinton was in New Zealand meeting with President Jiang of China. He declared the area a Federal Disaster so the National Guard and Military can begin to mobilize. Then he cut short his meetings overseas and flew home to coordinate the rescue efforts. All one day BEFORE a Cat-3 hit the coast.

  President Bush (41) -- August 1992 -- was in the midst of a campaign for re-election. Yet he cut off his campaigning and went to Washington where he martialed the largest military operation on US soil in history. He sent in 7,000 National Guard and 22,000 regular military personnel, and all the gear to begin the clean up within hours after Andrew passed through Florida.

  But look what Georgie does for FL:
  Right after Hurricane Charley first made landfall on Aug. 13, 2004, Bush declared the state a federal disaster area to release federal relief funds. Less than two days after Charley ripped through southwestern Florida, he was on the ground touring hard-hit neighborhoods.

  by azureblue on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 08:28:35 AM PDT

  •  Thanks for the.....

    kind words and an informative post. More on Dubya and Florida--not only did it help that state to have as her governor Brother Jeb--it also helped that a presidential election in which Bush counted on Florida's substantial block of electoral votes was coming up that Nov.

    But once that election was over....

    by Louisiana 1976 on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 08:35:32 AM PDT

•  I sometims wonder,

  why we keep expecting common decency from this current administration, when they literally have none to give.
    Bear in mind, these are the same people that laughed when Rush Limbaugh referred to Chelsea Clinton as the "the White House dog." They applaud Ann Coulter when she calls for the assasination of Supreme Court Justices. They had a website selling licenses to hunt liberals. They literally turned on their fellow countrymen, for the sake of a  political ideology.
    People like this do not "shrink" government; they "shrink" responsibility. The sight of a toddler face-down in the flood waters of New Orleans is the definitive statement for the republican party. Tells you everything about them you'll ever need to know. They have proven themselves-time and again-unfit to govern. They-are-just-plain-unfit. New Orleans is a true wake-up call.

  by lyvwyr101 on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 08:54:56 AM PDT