James Carville: Judgements validate that New Orleans flooding was more engineering failure than natural disaster

LeveesOrg founder Sandy Rosenthal speaks to supporters at Kickoff Rally Jan 21, 2006 in New Orleans. Photo by Stanford Rosenthal

CNN political contributor James Carville wrote about New Orleans today and the outlook for the metropolitan region in 2010.

We think his piece was excellent. Among many things, James Carville remarked about the flooding five years ago.

And in late 2009, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ mismanagement at the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was the cause for flood damage in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Damages paid to local governments and residents will exceed $1 billion. These judgments validate many locals’ beliefs that the flooding of 80 percent of New Orleans and the billions of dollars in damage were caused more by massive engineering failures than a natural disaster. –James Carville

We would have preferred that Carville said the local ‘assertions were validated’ rather than ‘beliefs.’ Nonetheless, “Fine job!” to Carville who spoke about the future of many things including what may likely happen as a result of the judgments.

U.S. representative Charlie Melancon brought a contingent of people to Washington DC in early December to urge the federal government to settle and provide to the people of St. Bernard and Orleans Parish what they deserve. We hope Melancon is persuasive and adept at using supporting facts.

UPDATE: Many thanks to Editilla of the New Orleans Ladder for bringing to my attention that I neglected to provide a link to the CNN article by James Carville. You can see the CNN article here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/02/15/carville.new.orleans/

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Katrina Myth passes 100,000 milestone

Seen through the barbed wire around the New Orleans District Army Corps building are supporters at Levees.org's kickoff rally. Photo by Stanford Rosenthal

Thanks to you, our supporters and friends, our documentary, The Katrina Myth, that explains the truth about the New Orleans flooding has passed a milestone – 100,000 views!

If you haven’t yet, click here to watch this short important video that exposes the key myths and misunderstandings about the August 2005 flood.

Share it with your family and friends!

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Study says displaced New Orleans flood victims did NOT cause crime spike

Flood victims work together to rebuild New Orleans at Levees.org's kickoff rally on Jan 21, 2006. Photo by Stanford Rosenthal

As reported in USA Today, Hurricane Katrina did not lead to a massive crime wave in evacuee cities despite news reports and police warnings at the time.

A new study reported in the current Journal of Criminal Justice study led by sociologist Sean Varano of Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I looked at statistics for robbery, rape, murder, car theft and other violent crimes in Houston, San Antonio and Phoenix before and after Katrina evacuees arrived in those cities.

“If there was any effect, it was a modest one,” said Varano. “Many communities across the United States … also reported increases in violent crime between 2004 and 2006…”. The study notes a 30% increase in aggravated assault in cities such as Baltimore and Detroit.

Click here to see story in USA Today.

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