Presidential Olive Branches and Visions of Reconstruction
After two weeks of finger-pointing, including by yours truly, the last few days have been more conciliatory. The oil and water-stained rug yanked out from under "Brownie" via reassignment, President Bush then followed that up by assuming responsibility for the tardy Federal assistance, which preceded a statewide address by Kathleen Blanco where the embattled Democratic state chief gave an opaque admission of self-blame by declaring the "buck stops here" while pointing at herself.
And then there was President Bush's nationally televised speech from the same square (the former colonial Place d' Arms) where the Louisiana Territory was formally transferred to the United States. The casually dressed president, a wardrobe choice made as much for the south Louisiana humidity as it indirectly underscored the "work montage" of a city under rebuilding, strode to a microphone strategically located so his background included the images of the St. Louis Cathedral, illuminated in an almost ghostly light, and the equestrian monument to the "Hero of New Orleans" himself, General Andrew Jackson.
As a native, what struck me was the total absence of noise. I am a frequent visitor of the French Quarter (get your minds out of the gutter people, the Vieux Carre, French for Old Square - a popular parochial euphemism for the historic neighborhood - is home to some of the best rare book shops in the country) and I cannot remember a time when it was so quiet.
The president's speech was one of his finest. In fact it was the first time I have ever heard a president say the name "Chalmette" and I would not be surprised to learn that he was the last chief executive to have my town roll off his tongue since William Howard Taft canceled his trip to the home of the Battle of New Orleans in 1909 (true story).
President Bush's restating his commitment to see New Orleans rebuilt was reassuring, especially since the head of the national legislative branch had expressed doubts about the point of spending so much money to do so. But to his credit, Big Denny (House Speaker Denny Hastert) should be credited for being the quickest to cry "mea culpa" of all of those who own their fair share of the fault in the post-Katrina fiasco.
While the president made many promises towards repairing the damaged city and the surrounding areas that suffered the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and he should be applauded for indirectly stating his concerns about oversight (Louisiana's reputation does deservedly precede her), his speech was missing one critical element: a call to finally close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the scourge of eastern New Orleans, the lower 9th Ward, and my home parish of St. Bernard.
The outlet, known colloquially as the Mr. Go, has been the source of problems since the shipping channel was carved out of St. Bernard Parish's once lush wetlands in the 50s. The golden tales of positive economic impact for the area proved to be more gilded than 24 karat. Less than two ships per day pass through the outlet though the Federal Government spends $22 million a year to dredge this obsolete canal.
Instead of commerce, the MRGO has brought in saltwater, which over a period of decades eroded the swamp that once served as a natural breakwater to hurricane storm surges and decimated St. Bernard's once thriving trapping industry. The MRGO has served as an express-lane for the storm surges, as happened in 1965 when Hurricane Betsy, a celebrated hurricane that put much of western St. Bernard under water. Betsy was the worst natural disaster to hit St. Bernard. That is until August 29, 2005.
Hurricane Katrina damaged 90% of the MRGO levee that is intended to protect St. Bernard but the earthen walls are not up to task and will never be so long as the MRGO is open.
Had the MRGO never been dug, there is a good chance the total destruction of St. Bernard that came with Hurricane Katrina would have been comparably minimal. The force of water that inundated the parish would have been largely absorbed by the now extinct acres of cypress trees.
Had the MRGO never left the drawing board, tens of thousands of people would be in their homes right now instead of sleeping on cots in shelters throughout the country.
Had there been no MRGO, dozens of people in St. Bernard and the lower income areas of eastern New Orleans might be alive right now.
The task of closing the MRGO was partially done by Katrina, as the shipping channel has been rendered nearly unnavigable for deep draft ships due to the increase of silt. The Army Corps of Engineers, the agency charged with dredging it, will soon be requesting Congress for well in excess of $22 million to reopen this environmental disaster.
If Congress is interested in saving money, they should not appropriate another cent towards the MRGO and let nature deliver the death knell to this deadly tear on St. Bernard's northern periphery. The billions it will take to resurrect St. Bernard are the bitter harvest reaped from a boondoggle whose existence favors only a handful of politically favored shipping concerns.
If President Bush is sincere in wanting people to go home, then he should act to close the MRGO so those weighing a return will have the peace of mind that the conduit of their misery will torment them no more.
And then there was President Bush's nationally televised speech from the same square (the former colonial Place d' Arms) where the Louisiana Territory was formally transferred to the United States. The casually dressed president, a wardrobe choice made as much for the south Louisiana humidity as it indirectly underscored the "work montage" of a city under rebuilding, strode to a microphone strategically located so his background included the images of the St. Louis Cathedral, illuminated in an almost ghostly light, and the equestrian monument to the "Hero of New Orleans" himself, General Andrew Jackson.
As a native, what struck me was the total absence of noise. I am a frequent visitor of the French Quarter (get your minds out of the gutter people, the Vieux Carre, French for Old Square - a popular parochial euphemism for the historic neighborhood - is home to some of the best rare book shops in the country) and I cannot remember a time when it was so quiet.
The president's speech was one of his finest. In fact it was the first time I have ever heard a president say the name "Chalmette" and I would not be surprised to learn that he was the last chief executive to have my town roll off his tongue since William Howard Taft canceled his trip to the home of the Battle of New Orleans in 1909 (true story).
President Bush's restating his commitment to see New Orleans rebuilt was reassuring, especially since the head of the national legislative branch had expressed doubts about the point of spending so much money to do so. But to his credit, Big Denny (House Speaker Denny Hastert) should be credited for being the quickest to cry "mea culpa" of all of those who own their fair share of the fault in the post-Katrina fiasco.
While the president made many promises towards repairing the damaged city and the surrounding areas that suffered the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and he should be applauded for indirectly stating his concerns about oversight (Louisiana's reputation does deservedly precede her), his speech was missing one critical element: a call to finally close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the scourge of eastern New Orleans, the lower 9th Ward, and my home parish of St. Bernard.
The outlet, known colloquially as the Mr. Go, has been the source of problems since the shipping channel was carved out of St. Bernard Parish's once lush wetlands in the 50s. The golden tales of positive economic impact for the area proved to be more gilded than 24 karat. Less than two ships per day pass through the outlet though the Federal Government spends $22 million a year to dredge this obsolete canal.
Instead of commerce, the MRGO has brought in saltwater, which over a period of decades eroded the swamp that once served as a natural breakwater to hurricane storm surges and decimated St. Bernard's once thriving trapping industry. The MRGO has served as an express-lane for the storm surges, as happened in 1965 when Hurricane Betsy, a celebrated hurricane that put much of western St. Bernard under water. Betsy was the worst natural disaster to hit St. Bernard. That is until August 29, 2005.
Hurricane Katrina damaged 90% of the MRGO levee that is intended to protect St. Bernard but the earthen walls are not up to task and will never be so long as the MRGO is open.
Had the MRGO never been dug, there is a good chance the total destruction of St. Bernard that came with Hurricane Katrina would have been comparably minimal. The force of water that inundated the parish would have been largely absorbed by the now extinct acres of cypress trees.
Had the MRGO never left the drawing board, tens of thousands of people would be in their homes right now instead of sleeping on cots in shelters throughout the country.
Had there been no MRGO, dozens of people in St. Bernard and the lower income areas of eastern New Orleans might be alive right now.
The task of closing the MRGO was partially done by Katrina, as the shipping channel has been rendered nearly unnavigable for deep draft ships due to the increase of silt. The Army Corps of Engineers, the agency charged with dredging it, will soon be requesting Congress for well in excess of $22 million to reopen this environmental disaster.
If Congress is interested in saving money, they should not appropriate another cent towards the MRGO and let nature deliver the death knell to this deadly tear on St. Bernard's northern periphery. The billions it will take to resurrect St. Bernard are the bitter harvest reaped from a boondoggle whose existence favors only a handful of politically favored shipping concerns.
If President Bush is sincere in wanting people to go home, then he should act to close the MRGO so those weighing a return will have the peace of mind that the conduit of their misery will torment them no more.
posted by BourbonConservative at 7:32 AM
2 Comments:
Mike,
email me at westley@da-parish.com
Thanks,
Westley
I would agree that the MRGO should be closed.
As for the President's speech, it is worth wondering how his advance staff could get the generators for the lights in so quickly, when hospitals are still waiting for power.
However, I am not very optimistic. Even today, we see that our government is so inept that they are burning relief aid from Britain because of the regulations against BSE (mad cow) left over from years ago (since which we have had mad cow here and it has been eradicated in Britain). The food in question was donated by the British at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars, and in fact our soldiers in Iraq have been eating identical MRE's when they have been on assignment with British units.
The reaction of the British aid worker interviewed in the story was pretty telling: "There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.
"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.
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