Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : John Iwaniszek Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 01:01:52 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape Jim Larson wrote in news:Xns96C4ACC6C8063v234oiwofui3284af93@130.133.1.18: > RR wrote: > >> In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of >> the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration >> cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq >> war. >> >> A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New >> Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush >> administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. >> >> After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast >> Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers >> strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, >> the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a >> hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely >> disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. >> But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project >> essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the >> Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of >> the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake >> Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning >> of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since >> 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring >> freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for fixing New Orleans' >> levees, but it was too late. >> >> The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which before the hurricane published a >> series on the federal funding problem, and whose presses are now >> underwater, reported online: "No one can say they didn't see it coming >> ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions >> are being asked about the lack of preparation." >> >> By Sidney Blumenthal >> Salon.com Wednesday 31 August 2005 >> > > (You're trying to make Iwa explode, right?) > (I've been tracking the flood conrol budget cuts for a few days.) .