A friend just congratulated me for being part of the reason the federal government must be held responsible for (some) of the flooding on August 29, 2005 in metro New Orleans. “That must be a huge reward for you!” she wrote.
To me, the reward is helping the American people understand that the 2005 levee failures in metro New Orleans were indicative of a national problem, and not a symptom of local corruption.
Cambell Robertson with New York Times said it well.
“…It was the first time that the government has been held liable for any of the flooding that inundated the New Orleans area after Aug. 29, 2005, vindicating the long-held contention of many in the region that the flooding was far more than an act of God….”
With over half the American population living in counties protected by levees, the true issues should hopefully be more clear not just to Americans, but to our nation’s Congress.
Dramatic changes must take place in the way water projects are approved, funded, and implemented. And it took someone like Judge Duval to drive that point home.
UPDATE: David Conrad, Senior Water Resources Specialist with the National Wildlife Federation says in an email to me, “…the finding that the Corps is not shielded from liability for damages caused by their projects is a giant decision which may ultimately and fittingly cost the government billions and billions of dollars. This agency certainly needs to be reformed….”
Today is a beautiful day of progress for New Orleans. May it be the first of many. And now the Army Corps of Engineers rightly joins a long list of “giants” who’ve been brought to their knees for corruption and negligence. Great work, Levees.org!
This agency is just one part of this government that needs to be reformed – we need a major overhaul in so many areas!!!!
And, it’s appalling the government gets this immunity for damages – but then, look at the big pharma companies that have immunity for anything resulting from vaccines!!!! Look at the crooks on Wall Street that get bailed out instead of fired and locked up!
There are so many outrageous things happening lately, the list could go on and on!
Congrats to Levees.org for all their hard work. You DID IT!!!
Hello to all: Been watching and listening to all this.Glad for you all.We are located way up NorthEast from you in Maine and we have an issue where the Army Corp built a large rock jety several years ago and now after all these years,several homes lost,thousands of dollars spent on studies and finally the Army Corps have been told that it was because of the jety that has been creating this errosion proplem and should be held resposible for their actions.Its been over two years know and still nothing is being done.The last big storm we had last year or so,we lost three more homes because of this jety.They have the answer and can fix the problem they say but its all about the money.They don’t care about us.Maybe we should consider legal matters.Anyway,congrat to all.If anyone has any ideas for us, please?Thanks for reading.
Stupid decision.
My dad works for the corps and they knew of the deterioration all along and had submitted many proposals for congressional funding. Did congress ever fund them? No – other pressing issues!!!!!
So you are suing you own congress that YOU RETARDS elected!!!!!!
morons!
@James Dear James,
Show me the proposals.