Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco speaks at a Rebuilding and Recovery Conference in New Orleans, La., Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005. Blanco talked about the effects of Hurricane Katrina and how the state would have to rebuild. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Posted on 11/12/2005 7:01:26 AM PST by Libloather
Support for Category 5 Storm Protection in New Orleans Ebbs in D.C.
BY BILL WALSH And BRUCE ALPERT
Newhouse News Service
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco speaks at a Rebuilding and Recovery Conference in New Orleans, La., Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005. Blanco talked about the effects of Hurricane Katrina and how the state would have to rebuild. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
WASHINGTON -- In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the tattered Gulf Coast received an outpouring of sympathy -- and money -- from Washington. Congress appropriated $62 billion for relief and recovery, and President Bush vowed to rebuild New Orleans "higher and better."
But 21/2 months after the storm, such unequivocal support is hard to come by in the nation's capital.
When, for example, Louisiana's political leaders show rare unity in asking Washington for assurances that a rebuilt New Orleans will be protected from Category 5 hurricanes, they often are met with skepticism, ignorance and outright hostility.
Protection from the strongest hurricanes, state and local officials say, is essential to giving residents and businesses the confidence they need to return and rebuild.
But Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee overseeing federal spending, said he wasn't aware until Wednesday that Louisiana officials saw Category 5 protection as the key to redevelopment. The top-ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, said he wants proof that it will work. Senate Appropriations Committee member Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said that in his view, New Orleans could get by just fine with Category 3 protection for the time being.
"I think over time we should keep reinforcing it and eventually get to a Category 5," Burns said. "That way we can spread the cost out over time."
And in contrast to the clear commitment Bush gave in a speech in New Orleans' Jackson Square on Sept. 15 to "do what it takes ... stay as long as it takes" to restore the city, he now appears reluctant to signal his support for protection from hurricanes stronger than Katrina and Rita.
At a brief photo opportunity at the White House on Thursday, Bush repeated his commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast. But when asked if he supported Category 5 hurricane protection, he declined to answer.
The ambiguous wording is beginning to worry members of Louisiana's congressional delegation who have been struggling to keep Washington's focus on rebuilding the state even as other news -- a Supreme Court nomination, the White House leak scandal and congressional criminal investigations -- compete for attention.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is preparing a letter that she hopes Senate colleagues will sign that expresses their commitment to rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said colleagues think he is looking for a blank check rather than merely a show of support.
"I think they are confusing, quite frankly, some sort of full authorization with that initial statement," Vitter said. "I'm trying to educate them that I'm not avoiding the normal stages of the process and just want a general, solid statement that leaves plenty of room for questions to be answered."
The 200-mile levee system snaking through metropolitan New Orleans was supposed to be able to withstand a direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane, which can pack winds of up to 130 mph and a 12-foot storm surge. But breaches in the levees that flooded much of the city during Katrina, a Category 3 storm, have raised questions about design and construction flaws.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which designed the levee system, has estimated that reinforcing them to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, with winds greater than 155 mph and an 18-foot storm surge, could cost about $3.5 billion. Extending that level of protection 72 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico would send the price up to $18 billion, according to the Louisiana governor's office.
But cost is not the only thing generating questions on Capitol Hill, according to interviews with more than two dozen lawmakers this week. Some members of Congress want assurances that the Corps is capable of building hurricane protection that can withstand a Category 5 storm.
"I want the science to be there," Obey said. "I don't want to approve something without knowing it will work. Otherwise we're just throwing (money) down a rat hole."
Others want some sign from state and local officials that enhanced levees will be part of a well-thought-out reconstruction plan.
"I think there needs to be a redevelopment plan that we can look to and understand what the scope and extent is," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. "That's when you will get buy-in from Congress."
Numerous commissions and planning authorities have cropped up in the wake of the storm, but there has been little consensus on how to proceed. There are disagreements about what areas should be rebuilt and how, what new building and zoning standards will say, what kind of hurricane protection is most appropriate, what should be protected and what shouldn't.
Even an enthusiastic supporter of rebuilding, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said she was confused about who is calling the shots.
"Someone has to be in charge, and I don't know who that is," she said at a hearing on hurricane protection Wednesday. "At what point does the rubber hit the road and someone says, `This is what we are going to do?"'
Montana's Burns said he doesn't agree that a congressional promise to build a hurricane-proof city is the key to repopulating the New Orleans region, as Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Kathleen Blanco have said.
"That's their opinion," he said.
Lewis, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, said he first learned at a hearing this week that Louisiana officials have made Category 5 levees their top priority. In an interview, he declined to embrace the plan, although he said Congress has a long-term financial commitment to the hurricane-battered region.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has a warm place in his heart for New Orleans. It's where he proposed to his wife and where he sent his son to college. But he said the onus isn't on Congress alone to send signals to evacuees that it is safe to return.
"People coming back to New Orleans will depend as much on actions of local governments and how they plan for their return as what the federal government does with the levees," Isakson said.
There are a few hopeful signs on Capitol Hill. The Senate last week approved as part of a budget bill the dedication of $1.2 billion to work on Louisiana's coast and levees by 2010; the money comes from the sale of rights to television airwaves as the country moves to digital broadcasting. The House is preparing to take up its own version of a budget with $323 million annually for hurricane protection. But it is unclear whether the House and Senate will even agree to a final budget deal, putting all the financing in jeopardy.
House and Senate negotiators this week agreed to spend $8 million for the Corps of Engineers to develop Category 5 hurricane protection plans for all of south Louisiana. But the bill doesn't promise a dime for actually building it.
Nov. 11, 2005
A perfect example of the socialist attitude, the assumption that some authority is "calling the shots."
I was referring to the recent hurricane.
The French Quarter and the CBD stayed dry. Uptown, Mid-city, Gentilly, New Orleans East, 9th ward, etc flooded.
And Alaska send dollars in way other than gas tax. Lots of dollars go the US treasury for Oil/Gas Leases and Royalties. Funny how those are never counted.
Also, how well would Michigan stand on its own if we limited private land ownership to less than 1% of the State? That is what is done to Alaska. Quit having the Federal Government turn us into the world's largest park and we could be more productive. There are over 77 million acres designated as wilderness. Let us drill the ANWR coastal plain and we will send another $2.5 billion to the federal treasury.
And that's the problem. The levees were supposed to withstand a Cat 3. They couldn't hold out strong Cat 1 winds, which is what NOLA got hit with on the weak side of Katrina.
If they are built to supposed Cat 5 specifications, do we really know what that means? Recall that Jim Cantore was in a location where the NHC thought there would not be surge - and he had to help evacuate veterans to the second floor. What if tens of thousands of NOLA residents stay behind, believing that the new levees would hold back a Cat 5 - and they don't?
It's insane to try and keep the parts of NOLA that are well below sea level from becoming a lake. Rebuild a smaller NOLA, move residential areas to higher ground further west, and avert the future tragedy.
Not funny at all considering Alaska was purchased by the Federal Taxpayers. The taxes are paid by those who purchase the oil. Alaska is merely a middle man in these transactions taking a cut.
Just like the Louisiana Purchase and other areas. Of course in those states the government gave land to industry to develop, like the railroads. Homesteading was done to higher percentage and the land office actually sold the land rather than holding it for a non revenue producing park or wildlife reserve.
When American forces fought the British gaining control present day Michigan, who paid that cost? Looks to me like American Taxpayers.
Pot, meet Kettle.
There was a tad more involved than the Treasury, people were fighting the British for their freedom. These Pots and Kettles are different colors.
The wrecked area could be the perfect place for a refinery farm. Major port, importing oil, exporting refined products up and down the Mississippi River an elsewhere? Sounds like a plan to me.
I used to drive cars here, but I've had a truck for the last four years here. The lib-leninists can yammer all they want they'll never get me in a low vehicle in Houston again. I don't tempt fate, but by the same token if I get caught in a storm I want a decent chance of making it home and not spending the night with a hundred of my closest friends under a gas station awning. Mine isn't super tall, but it has enough clearance to handle most floods, especially at the beginning.
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