Katrina

Sorry, this is off topic. Because I lived in New Orleans from 1958 to 1966, I know a little that some do not.

In the fall of 1965, Hurricane Betsy flooded a sizeable portion of the city. The dykes had failed and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was called in for an assessment. The report that was issued said that the dyke system needed to be re-designed and re-built. Millions of dollars were allocated for the project by the Federal government. The work was not performed. I do not know if any of you are familiar with politics in Louisiana, but they make Cook County look like school children. A side note: Huey Long was from Louisiana and he was about as close to a dictator as this country has every come.

Anyway, the point is that not only did the local government not react well, which does not surprise me, but also they had been set up many years before because much of the work that could have prevented the disaster (Or at least contained it better) had been identified and had not implemented.