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."
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."
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?
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