The GAO released correspondance sent to Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. It is as update of briefings on Rebuilding Efforts in the Gulf Coast that were given to staff and meant to assist in the committee’s oversight responsibilities. (Yeah I’m still waiting for some of that from Joe) At any rate there is nothing really new here. They once again make this very important point… While the federal government has provided billions of dollars in assistance to the Gulf Coast, a substantial portion of this aid was directed to short-term needs, … Continue reading Scout’s Obsession with the GAO: Perspective

Oyster calls Matt at Fix the Pumps blog…”Louisiana’s most important blogger.” This is vitally important stuff, people. Matt’s attention to this issue has uncovered important facts that need widespread exposure, and fearless investigation. New Orleanians deserve the unvarnished truth about the flood control improvements being undertaken by USACE, and the nation deserves an honest accounting of how its tax dollars are being spent. Will we get these things if we don’t demand them? YRHT salutes Matt’s analysis and activism on this crucially important topic. I encourage everyone to listen to what he’s saying. Please go read and pass along the … Continue reading Read him now

Maitri has info on the Rising Tide II conference in August. Go to New Orleans and join in! Continue reading Rising Tide II

Back in Sept 2005, CREW filed FOIA’s seeking records on the federal government’s plans for a Gulf Coast hurricane. Today CREW has released a new report:“The Best Laid Plans: The Story of How the Government Ignored Its Own Gulf Coast Hurricane Plans.” From CREW’s website we learn… Critically, CREW found that FEMA had created a “Southeast Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Plan” (SLCHP), which forecast a range of specific consequences, including:  * New Orleans would be flooded with 14-17 feet of water, the levee system inundated with at least 10 feet of water and the hurricane would move into Mississippi;* One million … Continue reading CREW: FEMA’s best laid plans ignored

Yesterday as Christie Whitman was grilled by Congress on the air quality at Ground Zero post 9/11, the GAO released a report (pdf) on the EPA’s efforts on the Gulf Coast post Katrina. The GAO concluded their efforts could have been “enhanced.” One of the main findings involves monitoring of asbestos in the air. However, as cleanup continues, EPA’s assurance that public health is protected from risks associated with inhalation of asbestos fibers is limited because the agency has not deployed air monitors in and around New Orleans neighborhoods where demolition and renovation activities are concentrated. After Katrina the EPA … Continue reading Scout’s Obsession with the GAO: EPA post Katrina “efforts could be Enhanced”

Last week Iwrote about the Bush administration’s throwing a monkey wrench in Louisiana’s plan to rebuild Charity Hospital. Well Gov Blanco now has a plan to work around the feds on this and help out the Road Home program. From the Times Picayune… Gov. Kathleen Blanco came up with a plan Sunday to help patch the Road Home shortfall and simultaneously bypass her dispute with Washington conservatives over a proposed Charity Hospital in New Orleans. The governor will rely solely on state money to build the medical facility, then shift federal recovery dollars allocated to the hospital to fill in … Continue reading Workaround

From the Times Picayune we learn that the Bush administration has made it clear they do not support Louisiana’s plan to build a new health care facility to replace Charity Hospital. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson wrote a laundry list letter of his problems with the plan. In it he even claimed the state had “inflated” local demand for hospital beds. Of course the Bush administration had been pushing the state to implement the Bush administration’s new plan of health care for the poor—government subsidized private health insurance rather than the Charity Hospital system. There’s some irony. In the rest of … Continue reading For Bush… New Orleans’ recovery is local…until it’s not

(photo: scout) For background…there has been some battling on this. Dr. Kevin Stephens the director of the New Orleans Health Department is the lead author of the study reported on below. Stephens had testified before Congress in March on his findings. State epidemiologist Raoult Ratard challenged those findings with the May release of “a study showing that the death rate has not drastically escalated.” Now Dr. Stephens has published his study in the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. From USA Today… Hurricane Katrina’s tragic aftermath lingered for at least a year after the storm abated, boosting New Orleans’ … Continue reading Study: New Orleans Deaths Up 47%

This strikes me as such… There were no takers for a piano signed by Fats Domino in an auction to raise money for the rebuilding of New Orleans. Not one offer. Man. Christ. {{hangs head}} Here is the great Fats Domino singing “Ain’t that a Shame” Continue reading Emblematic of it all

From the NYT… After nearly two years of work, the Army Corps of Engineers disclosed for the first time today which New Orleans neighborhoods and blocks were the most vulnerable to flooding and which were the best protected. The report shows that large swaths of the city are still likely to be flooded in a major storm. If a 100-year storm were to hit today, for example, parts of the Gentilly and Lakeview neighborhoods, in the northern part of the city, would probably still take on at least 8 feet of water. But the report shows that the vulnerable areas … Continue reading Army Corps of Engineers Sort of Releases Report

It’s almost as if, despite his touted many visits to the city, everything he knows about New Orleans he learned from Anderson Cooper. Continue reading Ouch