Three times since April 16, 2009, Becky Bohrer of the Associated press has described the flooding in metro New Orleans as caused by Katrina.

John McQuaid, author of “Path of Destruction, a book on the history leading up to Hurricane Katrina, condemns this.

“…The shorthand of “New Orleans levees overtopped” – with its underlying associations of “natural disaster swamps city below sea level – what the heck are those people doing living down there?…

Three times, I have asked Levees.org supporters to contact Bohrer’s editor, and Bohrer herself, and point out the error, and the damage, by using such shorthand.

Certainly, the Associated Press wire service must hold its writers to a high standard of accuracy and clarity. This applies as well when talking about what caused the damage to the city of New Orleans in 2005, as the AP has so much influence over what the country understands about New Orleans.

Here are links to the three articles Bohrer wrote using the harmful shorthand.

Aug 17, 2009
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20090817&id=10280247

May 13, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8-X1nHwH-vlFVwKRts8eixOSjHwD985IDG00

April 16, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hq6L7yRJi7Olo9iC018lpoiDk_RwD97J2K2G3