As we dig out from the wreckage of two tornadoes, and as we get back to the daily grind of rebuilding our lives in New Orleans courtesy of the collapse of the federal levees, it is always healthy and smart to rejoice in the positive. That little bit of positive came from the editorial board of the New York Times.

On the day the tornadoes struck, the editors wrote on the inactivity of Congress in waiving the Stafford Act for New Orleans and Louisiana. That means waiving a law that Louisiana must give a quarter for every 75 cents that the federal government provides for rebuilding. The waiver is reasonable since the federal government waived the law for 32 other disasters since 1985.

The Bush Administration has not acted despite the fact that Katrina and Rita wreaked roughly $6,700 worth of damage per capita in Louisiana. The editors point out that,

“This inaction is particularly surprising, given that such a large proportion of the damage can be attributed to the failure of the federal levees that were supposed to protect the New Orleans area.”

A major paper is pointing out that New Orleans was destroyed not by a big bad storm but because mistakes were made in the construction of the federal levees. I am rejoicing that a major paper has acknowledged that the citizens of metro New Orleans are not looking for handouts, but rather only for what they deserve.

Sandy Rosenthal
Founder, Levees.Org
www.levees.org