NOLA Levees..."A Production of Corruption"
Almost everyone I spoke with in New Orleans stated the most important issue facing NOLA is Levees. They want to know what went wrong so the same mistakes will not be made again. Further they want the levees to be built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane so NOLA will not be washed away again. Below the Times Picayune has a report on the controversy over what went wrong followed by an account of one woman fighting to hold the Army Corps of Engineers responsible…..
When I was in Lakeview awaiting the arrival of a Congressional delegation I met a feisty woman named Mary Burns who is committed to holding the Army Corps of Engineers accountable.
She and her husband Jimmy live on the other side of the 17th St canal levee break in Metairie. Their home did not flood but her entire family lost their homes to Katrina---14 homes in all. Mary has put her energy into helping levees.org in holding the Corps accountable. She stated. “I’m so angry. Dear Lord help me with my anger. Give me a positive channel for it.” Pointing to the placard hanging off her shoulders she says, “This is it.” Angry with all levels of government Mary said, “Vote da bums out, all of ‘em, city, state and federal.” She went on to say that she has voted Republican in the past but the “Republicans will have to work hard for my vote now cause I’m pissed and angry.”
Mary who is a retired Catholic high school teacher is an outspoken force to be dealt with. When a local politician showed up Mary went over and told him, “This was a production of corruption.” She said her statement on the levee break was met with “dead silence.” The levee issue is first and foremost to Mary as well as most in NOLA. She believes the federal government made mistakes which must be determined and corrected if the city will be safe for the return of residents and businesses. But she also related other problems with FEMA, the Small Business Administration and insurance companies.
Mary had a bit of a run in at the FEMA office when her frustration got the best of her while trying to determine the status of the rental assistance request of her 85 year old parents. When told their request was under review she pressed for what that meant. The young FEMA employee Mary described as not trained for the job pointed upward with one hand saying the FEMA hire ups would have the answer. Not to be out done Mary pointed upward with both hands and asked “and where would they be.” At that point the young FEMA worker called over security to sit with Mary. She related the security officer asked if she had any knives or guns to which Mary responded…”No and it’s a good thing I don’t.”
That’s Mary but don’t get me wrong. Though angry she was one of the most humorous women I met in NOLA. I tried to imagine this woman teaching in a Catholic High School. My imagination was piqued even further when she related she taught sex ed amongst other subjectss. I didn’t have to imagine for long as Mary related she once ran afoul with the school administration for using the word ‘penis.’ With a broad grin she related that she told them “OK next time I’ll call it a Dick.” She shook her head in wonder, “Can you imagine not being able to say penis?” She answered her own question by saying Penis with emphasis several times. Mary is not one to back down.
So I suspect Mary will be present with her “Hold the Corps Accountable” placard each time a Senator or Congressman visits NOLA. It occurs to me that Mary not having lost her home is in a position to take up the fight unlike the many others who have lost all and are struggling just to face each day. But Mary struck me as a joyous woman who loves life and is a reluctant fighter. She told me before all this happened she and Jimmy spent their time dancing to zydeco music at one of their favorite clubs. I’m sure Mary would rather have been getting ready to go out to her beloved Tipitina’s than standing on a dusty road taking on the federal government. But Mary will do what she must to breathe life back into her New Orleans and like almost everyone I spoke to that means ensuring the levees are safe. It’s the first step on the road back and she has taken it. Heaven help the bureaucrat who stands in her way.
Findings by an Army Corps of Engineers-sponsored panel that the collapse of the 17th Street Canal floodwall during Hurricane Katrina was the result of an "unforeseeable" combination of events are contradicted by a 1986 research project done by the corps itself, National Science Foundation investigators said Monday.
The Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force, working for the corps to investigate the levee breaches, said in its second interim report Friday that the 17th Street failure was caused by rising water in the canal that forced the floodwall to flex away from the canal, causing a separation between the wall and the levee inside the canal. Water pressure building inside the opening then exerted force on a weak layer of soil under the wall and the land-side toe of the levee, causing the layer to slip and bringing the levee down and the wall with it.
SNIP
But in a sharply worded response issued Monday, two University of California-Berkeley professors leading a 34-member National Science Foundation investigation into the levee failures said the 1986 corps research make those claims "unfortunate" and "inaccurate."
Ray Seed and Bob Bea said the 20-year-old test, which included constructing floodwalls on existing levees and raising water levels to determine what pressures the walls could withstand, resulted in the same kind of collapse that toppled the 17th Street structures and flooded much of the city.
"In simple terms this was exactly the 'unforeseen' mode of failure" reported by the task force, the statement said.
When I was in Lakeview awaiting the arrival of a Congressional delegation I met a feisty woman named Mary Burns who is committed to holding the Army Corps of Engineers accountable.
She and her husband Jimmy live on the other side of the 17th St canal levee break in Metairie. Their home did not flood but her entire family lost their homes to Katrina---14 homes in all. Mary has put her energy into helping levees.org in holding the Corps accountable. She stated. “I’m so angry. Dear Lord help me with my anger. Give me a positive channel for it.” Pointing to the placard hanging off her shoulders she says, “This is it.” Angry with all levels of government Mary said, “Vote da bums out, all of ‘em, city, state and federal.” She went on to say that she has voted Republican in the past but the “Republicans will have to work hard for my vote now cause I’m pissed and angry.”
Mary who is a retired Catholic high school teacher is an outspoken force to be dealt with. When a local politician showed up Mary went over and told him, “This was a production of corruption.” She said her statement on the levee break was met with “dead silence.” The levee issue is first and foremost to Mary as well as most in NOLA. She believes the federal government made mistakes which must be determined and corrected if the city will be safe for the return of residents and businesses. But she also related other problems with FEMA, the Small Business Administration and insurance companies.
Mary had a bit of a run in at the FEMA office when her frustration got the best of her while trying to determine the status of the rental assistance request of her 85 year old parents. When told their request was under review she pressed for what that meant. The young FEMA employee Mary described as not trained for the job pointed upward with one hand saying the FEMA hire ups would have the answer. Not to be out done Mary pointed upward with both hands and asked “and where would they be.” At that point the young FEMA worker called over security to sit with Mary. She related the security officer asked if she had any knives or guns to which Mary responded…”No and it’s a good thing I don’t.”
That’s Mary but don’t get me wrong. Though angry she was one of the most humorous women I met in NOLA. I tried to imagine this woman teaching in a Catholic High School. My imagination was piqued even further when she related she taught sex ed amongst other subjectss. I didn’t have to imagine for long as Mary related she once ran afoul with the school administration for using the word ‘penis.’ With a broad grin she related that she told them “OK next time I’ll call it a Dick.” She shook her head in wonder, “Can you imagine not being able to say penis?” She answered her own question by saying Penis with emphasis several times. Mary is not one to back down.
So I suspect Mary will be present with her “Hold the Corps Accountable” placard each time a Senator or Congressman visits NOLA. It occurs to me that Mary not having lost her home is in a position to take up the fight unlike the many others who have lost all and are struggling just to face each day. But Mary struck me as a joyous woman who loves life and is a reluctant fighter. She told me before all this happened she and Jimmy spent their time dancing to zydeco music at one of their favorite clubs. I’m sure Mary would rather have been getting ready to go out to her beloved Tipitina’s than standing on a dusty road taking on the federal government. But Mary will do what she must to breathe life back into her New Orleans and like almost everyone I spoke to that means ensuring the levees are safe. It’s the first step on the road back and she has taken it. Heaven help the bureaucrat who stands in her way.
posted by scout prime at Tuesday, March 14, 2006
3 Comments:
Hey Scout: Now that you are up and running on a PC did you ever contact the reporter from the Times-Picayune that wanted to talk to you about Lakeview?
I'll resend the info if you never got it. He really wanted to talk to you about the fake clean up.
spockosemail at gmail.com
Seems to me that Mary might be wasting her time. She would be more productive actually helping some old person clean up their house or even work to clean up her own neighborhood. She is tilting at windmills. It is hard to go through such a disaster but there comes a time to get back to reality and clean up the mess instead of waiting for us to come and do it for her. The levees will be fixed and since she is not likely an engineer how is she going to know if they were fixed properly? If I lived there I would get out instead of standing around in the sun with a worthless placard.
Anonymous....The levees are NOT being fixed. The Corp of Engeneeers just told Congress this week they need another $6 Billion to do so.
Mary is right and the idea that she should go "clean" a neighborhood is ridiculous.
Can you "clean" all the homes of 80% of YOUR city and then guarantee everyone it won't happen again so go ahead and invest your life savings and rebuild???? Would you do that to your neighbors and friends KNOWING that the levees are not able to withstand a catastophic hurricane?
Do you have any idea what "clean" means? Go look at some of the videos here. Better yet if you won't hold the government responsible for THEIR failed levees or fixing them then go down there and do some "cleaning" yourself.
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