As of June 12, a total of 1,676,700 sandbags and 79 pumps have been issued to support state requests for assistance. But, someone has to lift those monstrously heavy sandbags. Nearly two million sandbags! The Associated Press reports that in Missouri, "armies" of industrious Amish and Mennonites, along with convicted felons and students are heave-hoeing those sandbags.
Whose responsibility is this anyway? Where is the outrage? People are too busy running for their lives to argue, one would assume.
Is this just another example of Naomi Klein's concept of disaster capitalism? The price of corn and grain is about to go through the roof, but America's collective eyes are elsewhere.
The New Orleans advocacy and watchdog group, Levees.org, has issued a statement on the Nola News Ladder saying that the flooding in Cedar Rapids Iowa has been "accurately compared to the flooding in New Orleans when levees breached during Katrina."
That is a noteworthy statement coming from an organization which has fought fiercely to ensure that government failures in the aftermath of Katrina remain in the public eye.
The contention is that the catastrophic failures in New Orleans and now throughout the Midwest can no longer be conveniently blamed upon "God" or "Mother Nature." Levees.org claims that what happened in New Orleans could happen anywhere, but this problem is not being addressed. "There are more people in the state of California in danger of catastrophic levee failure than in the states of Texas, Louisiana and Florida combined," says organization head, Sandy Rosenthal. "This is not just a New Orleans issue."
New Orleans on Father's Day (Copyright levees.org)
This photo shows Rosenthal in New Orleans on Sunday.
When asked about the Corps's suggestion that residents get busy with sandbagging, Rosenthal told the Huffington Post and OEN, "Properly built levees should be the right height and should be designed to withstand a few hours of overtopping - in the event of a 1,000 year storm - without danger of breaching."
In a recent statement, Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana (D) concurs, and has called for an independent investigation. She places the blame with "dangers presented by declining infrastructure."
In fact, the United States spends today roughly two-thirds less on civil works investment than it spent in 1960, relative to the gross domestic product," Landrieu said. Read the bill: 8/29 Investigation, Senate Bill 2826
Reports from the flooded areas are beginning to take on feeling of a déjà vu.
Similar to stories in 2005 that slowly came out of New Orleans, there are reports of frustrated residents who want to return home being turned back at gunpoint, severely polluted waters due to the flooding of livestock areas and broken sewer lines, and water marks that reach up to eight feet on area homes.
So as not to diminish the tragedy of Katrina, it should be stated that most residents of the Midwest floods had the means to escape the rising waters. There are no photos of residents stranded on rooftops or on highway overpasses and so far at least, Blackwater has not made an overt appearance in the area.
How does one quantify the failures and suffering--if at all?
Georgianne Nienaber is a writer, author, and investigative journalist. She lives in the world. Her articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, SCOOP New Zealand, Glide Magazine, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Friends of the Congo, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction exposé of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. Nienaber spent much of 2007 doing research in South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist, and recently spent six weeks in Southern Louisiana investigating hurricane reconstruction. She is currently developing a documentary on the Gulf of Mexico DEAD ZONE.
Consider writing about this issue from your professional perspective. It was suggested to me and I have come to believe that this failure of infrastructure will soon be comparable to Chernobyl. The US is on the same path that the former USSR was on 22 years ago. All of our money is going to the military and society is crumbling and no one is accountable.
by
Georgianne Nienaber (145 articles, 46 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 337 comments)
on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 5:46:57 PM
Build or repair an infrastructure for 300 million when we will be depopulated to 100 million by the neo-malthusian elite.
Whats happening to the US is not an accident, or a product of lack of money. It is by design. The US is being dismantled. We have served the purpose of the globalist elite. Mission Accomplished. Now we must revert to 2nd world status so we can be comfortably merged with the rest of the world. Our future role is more of as an agrarian society and as the global governments policeman, not to mention as a natural resource provider. Thats why we allow illegal immigrants, they are better workers on a farm. The infrastructure required for the future will be entirely different than the one we have now. Less cities, more farms, more mining and oil drilling, fewer people.
Government could easily create it's own debt free money and loan it out at low interest, payable only when the infrastructure project has been completed and generating revenue. They refuse, because they are controlled by the financial oligarchy who profit from debt, and more important, control nations with debt. They essentially serve the defacto Global Government.
The biggest obstacle to recovering our democracy is the belief that we still have one. Unfortunately, this belief is strongly held.
by
pft (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 499 comments)
on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 2:40:13 AM
We really don't need cynics right now. The pathetic plans of Malthusian intellectual sophists should be pissed on, not bowed before. Are you a fighter or a fatalist?
by
Mac McKinney (47 articles, 75 quicklinks, 176 diaries, 1128 comments)
on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 11:50:11 AM
Levees, spillways and dams are designed by 'civil engineers'.500 year flood levels are created by engineering researchers.Failures to properly predict the flood levels sounds like professional carelessness to many of us.These 'engineers’ are usually members of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and are often working for the Corps of Engineers as well as local governments. Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota are suffering because 'civil engineers' failed to do their job.Be ready for the ASCE and the Corps to come in on their paper white horses and pretend to be your savior. Be aware that these are the organizations of the engineers that, through missteps and carelessness caused the destruction of your properties and businesses. They will never get the blame they deserve because the Beltway PR firms will blame YOU, the local people and officials, in the studies and press releases. The ASCE and the Corps will douse any logical complaint just like they flooded your infrastructure. The Civil Engineering profession in your area is shaking in their shoes and will get behind the ASCE and the Corps like bad children run behind their fat momma's house dress when confronted. Prepare now for a deliberate spin and smear campaign by the ASCE and their profession!
by
W. T. Ango (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 12:57:18 PM
4 comments
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