Cars were neatly deposited on the roofs of houses in Chalmette about 10 miles south of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Credit: Andy Levin/Polaris

Alex Lubben, a reporter for The Advocate, recently called me for commentary on Governor Jeff Landry’s plans to dismantle the SLFPA nominating committee created after Katrina.

I told Lubben that the levee board “reforms” passed 20 years ago were a distraction. I explained that the “reforms” drew attention away from the true culprit, the USACE. The flooding was due to federal engineering failure, not to anything the pre-Katrina levee boards did or didn’t do.

Lubben did not quote me. And instead he re-printed all the tired worn out statements that blamed the pre-Katrina levee boards for the flooding. And failed to mention the Army Corps of Engineers and its role.

Meanwhile, reporters for The Advocate continue to use something called “Katrina shorthand.” This is saying things like “Katrina ravaged New Orleans” rather than using words like “federal levee failure” when describing the flooding in New Orleans.

For the recent story by Lubben, click here.