Will Mayor Negan And Homeland Security Get It Right This Time?Almost three years to the day after Katrina devastated New Orleans, disaster-response officials are bracing for Tropical Storm Gustav's projected landfall there as forecasters predict it will strengthen into a major hurricane. Someone wake President Bush, because New Orleans is no where near ready for this.
The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency, criticized in 2005 for its slow response to Katrina, is working with state officials to prepare for the storm. FEMA said it moved 2.4 million liters of water in 137 trucks, 4 million meals in 203 trucks, 478 electric generators and 267 truckloads of blankets and cots into position for distribution in the Gulf Coast states.
Mayor Ray Nagin said that the city's protective ring of levees isn't fully strengthened after some parts failed when Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, contributing to floods that covered 80 percent of the city.
``Although we have made strong strides in rebuilding our infrastructure, the levees have not been fully repaired and we have an $800 million budget gap to complete our sewage and water systems,'' Nagin said in a statement.
Well at least we hav the excuses put togther before the storm. Might as well start blaiming a few people in advance of the mess that will surley occur after the storm.
Will there be another Super Dome cesspool? Find out at Bloomberg.com with the rest of this story.