Say Anything Blog

Just remember that there are some out there who want to give control of our health care to these guys.

There was a lot of “multilevel contracting” involved where each level took a cut and with an inflated price charged to the government. Only part of that can be blamed on simple incompetence, with the rest due to companies being “connected”. Most of them were connected to the GOP, but not all.

Testing to see if this post will go through. Having some problems.

Okay, trying again.

You’re right. The money’s there and plenty of it. Its our politicians here in Louisiana that are the problem, not the Feds. The best case scenario is sheer butt-stupid incompetence on the part of our local politicians when it comes to creating effective distribution programs for that money. Mississippi, who got hit as hard as we did minus the broken levees, did it. why can’t we?

The worst case scenario is old fashined, dishonest political patronage in the finest tradition of Louisiana politics.

Furthermore (I’m on a roll here) with this track record of incomptetence its no wonder the people in Washington who hold the purse strings are wary of Louisiana.

Our elected cockroaches are an embarrasment to all of us, from our governor Kathleen “Babbling” Blanco, to Mayor Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin. The people of New Orleans are deserving eveything they get for re-electing that clown.

Grand Forks is smaller in size and population, most of what was lost was fields which are much cheaper to replace…also in 98 competent people were running FEMA not so when Katrina hit!

Grand Forks is smaller in size and population,

We received about $500 million.  I extrapolated that over the populations of Louisiana and Mississippi. 

most of what was lost was fields which are much cheaper to replace

Turns out the fields were fine.  They didn’t need to be replaced.  Nor was that in my figures.

...also in 98 competent people were running FEMA not so when Katrina hit!

It was ‘97.  FEMA didn’t do a thing until the cleanup phase.  We didn’t wait around to start the cleanup.

Pretty much wrong in all points MadMatt.

We have every right to demand that the money be spent wisely, and we should audit to find out where the money has been spent. I have to say, though, we should be equally diligent about the billions spent on Iraq reconstruction.

Amen.

And after the audit, trials.

I’d venture to guess that Grand Forks’ primary industry was not tourist centered and able to get back up and running as soon as they could get temporary offices with electricity and phones. Therefore those that worked before were able to quickly collect paychecks and businesses were able to avoid major bankruptcy.
I’d also venture to guess that they didn’t have to build massive and complicated levees to hold back water immediately. Though they did build probably more than 20 miles of levees, most were probably of the traditional earthen variety and they were designed and built in a timeline to beat the next potential flood season and not needed immediately only to be rebuilt after things dried out.
I’d also assume that knowing from the months of snowfall preceding the flood that many expert and business strategies were constructed and put in place for dealing with the widely predicted coming flood.  New Orleans, despite having theoretical preparation really only had less than 80 hours notice.

New Orleans, despite having theoretical preparation really only had less than 80 hours notice.

Duh, if I lived in a city below sea level in hurricane country I’d damn well be ready.  If I was in city and state emergency management I’d review the plan before every hurricane season.

I’d also assume that knowing from the months of snowfall preceding the flood that many expert and business strategies were constructed and put in place for dealing with the widely predicted coming flood.

Not quite so simple.  The National Weather services predicted a 49 foot crest.  That’s right at the dangerous level.  So of course we gave ourselves 3 feet just in case.

However the flood reached 54 feet.  The National Weather service only revised their 49 foot crest on April 15th.  The poop hit the fan a day or two after that.

Not to mention that Grand Forks neighboring towns and cities were able to offer more immediate help because they were not dealing with crippling hurricane-level wind and flooding damage themselves.

Not to mention that Grand Forks neighboring towns and cities were able to offer more immediate help because they were not dealing with crippling hurricane-level wind and flooding damage themselves.

So we still wouldn’t have been sitting in the water waiting for the government to tell us to feed us.

Not quite so simple. The National Weather services predicted a 49 foot crest. That’s right at the dangerous level. So of course we gave ourselves 3 feet just in case.

However the flood reached 54 feet. The National Weather service only revised their 49 foot crest on April 15th. The poop hit the fan a day or two after that.

You’re discounting the fact that they knew a bullet had been fired months before and the only question was “will we dodge it or not”.  Grand Forks had theoretical planning too but they also had time to prepare real-time planning in case they didn’t dodge the bullet.

“Our saving grace was that the federal government came in with a large grant for the city … these moneys were used to help with flood recovery and to purchase numerous homes along the route of the new levee, as well as homes on the wet side of the levee,” said Mark Walker, Grand Forks’ assistant city engineer. “We had a pretty strong congressional delegation. That was helpful in securing the funding and the commitment for building the permanent flood protection system.”

carsick said, ...they were not dealing with crippling hurricane-level wind and flooding damage themselves.

New Orleans largely dodged the “hurricane-level wind” bullet. Check out the buildings. They’re mostly still there.

The “hurricane-level wind” mainly affected the coast of Mississippi. Everything was wiped out there.

A year later, NO is still bitching and acting like it is blameless for the welfare show we all witnessed and Mississippi is quietly rebuilding.

Likwidshoe
If you reread my post you will see that I was referring to the neighboring towns and cities.
I think “neighboring towns and cities” would include those on the Mississippi coast.  You may not agree.