Louisiana is in a pivotal juncture in its recovery.To help ensure its success, as Louisiana citizens, we need to think security and civic duty.Time is of the essence due to the confluence of Congressional and Louisiana legislative processes and timetables.
On this list is levee certification and high-grade levee and infrastructure needs.
Louisiana will not be able to recover sufficiently and as quickly unless we obtain Category 3 levee certification from the federal government.This requirement is not a matter within House or Senate legislation but is important so we can obtain lower insurance rates, more insurance availability and start attracting businesses and residents to our state.
Separately, this week, in WashingtonDC, the Supplemental Spending legislation is scheduled to be discussed in the House, perhaps as early as tomorrow.Among the supplemental spending for the foreign wars includes money for the GulfCoast and Louisiana levee and urgent infrastructure assistance.
A House version includes less money for Louisiana and causes the state to reimburse the Corps of Engineers over one billion dollars in three years instead of the US Senate’s provision of more money and reimbursement over 30 years.
That money is tied up in the competing legislation in the US House and in US Senate with President Bush favoring the House version.While the completion of the Category 5 protection would not occur immediately and the target year appears to be 2011, it would send a message that America, the GulfCoast and Louisiana is beginning to secure itself from a major storm and that businesses can begin to invest in this area.
Both US Senator Mary Landrieu, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and other integral members of his staff prefer the US Senate version.
Last week, Mayor Nagin sent out an official statement on the issue which stated, “OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM MAYOR C. RAY NAGIN
Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Emergency Supplemental bill to continue funding for the war effort and fund some important domestic programs. Senator Mary Landrieu was successful in obtaining the support of her Senate colleagues to include $6 billion in critical funding for levee protection projects and for other domestic funding to keep the City's recovery moving forward.
I strongly urge the House Leadership and the Members of the Louisiana Delegation to keep the levee funding in the bill when it is considered next week. Although the House Leadership is concerned about the President's veto threat regarding any domestic funding, the President supports the levee funding and has requested it in his FY09 appropriations request. Any delay will have a major impact on the Corps of Engineers' funding cycle and will delay these critical levee protection projects and ultimately add to their cost. We cannot jeopardize the safety of our citizens by allowing any delay in the construction of this critically needed protection.
On May 22, US Senator Mary Landrieu explained the varying legislation more fully:
“The United States Senate today passed an $8.7 billion package for GulfCoast hurricane recovery secured by United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va by a vote of 75-22. The package that includes funding for levees, criminal justice needs, health care and housing for low-income hurricane survivors was passed as part of the Emergency Supplemental Spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The Senate today cast a significant vote to address the emergency situation still facing the GulfCoast,” Sen. Landrieu said. “With hurricane season just around the corner, Louisiana can breathe a small sigh of relief that the Senate has approved $6 billion in funding for levees, with an additional half billion going toward crime prevention, hospitals and housing for our homeless. I will work to ensure that these critical funds remain intact in negotiations with the House.”
While the House of Representatives did include significantly more restrictive levee funding in its version of the Supplemental, it did not include a Katrina and Rita recovery package like that secured by Sens. Landrieu and Byrd. The two chambers will now negotiate the two versions of the bill before it is sent to the President’s desk. The President has opposed including any domestic funding in the bill, and has threatened a veto.
Levees
The Senate bill includes $6 billion for 100-year flood protection with a $1.3 billion state share. Louisiana's share was reduced from $1.5 billion, which President Bush had requested in his annual budget and the House concurred with. The cost share for Southeast Louisiana Flood Control projects (SELA) was maintained at a historical cost share of 75 percent federal to 25 percent state, rather than an increase to 35 percent as the President had proposed. The cost share for Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection project was also maintained at a historical cost share of 70 percent federal to 30 percent state, rather President Bush's proposed increase to 35 percent by the state.
Other hurricane protection provisions in the Supplemental include:
• $75 million to move public facilities from the Port of New Orleans to accelerate the closing of the Mississippi RiverGulf Outlet (MRGO).
• As much as $60 million for Mississippi River dredging and repair of flood protection projects, critically damaged by recent flooding. This funding means the Army Corps of Engineers will not have to reprogram money from other projects to complete necessary dredging of the river.
• Language directing the Corps to look at options for developing plans for permanent pumping of storm water in the New Orleans metropolitan area, taking into account the operational challenges that arise during major storms. Proposed plans include slow paving of outflow canals and the "Pump to the River" project in Jefferson Parish.
Criminal Justice
The Senate Supplemental includes $75 million for criminal justice needs along the GulfCoast, of which $50 million will go to Louisiana. Sen. Landrieu will work with the Department of Justice and the state to distribute the money in line with a comprehensive strategy developed by the New Orleans Crime Coalition, a group of business groups and nonprofits that are working to reduce rising crime in the New Orleans region. Priorities of the New Orleans Crime Coalition include hiring more police officers to fill vacancies; repairing the city's damaged crime lab; hiring more prosecutors and attorneys; purchasing equipment that was destroyed, such as radios and laptops; and drug treatment programs for adults and juveniles.
Hospitals
The Senate bill includes $350 million for hospitals in Louisiana and Mississippi, and Louisiana will be allocated approximately 45 percent of the total, or about $157 million. The Louisiana funds will go to six hospitals in Jefferson and Orleans Parishes: WestJeffersonGeneralHospital, EastJeffersonGeneralHospital, Ochsner, Touro Rehab, Tulane and LSUInterimHospital (MedicalCenter of Louisiana at New Orleans). Since the storms, more than half of the New Orleans area hospitals and healthcare facilities have not reopened. More than 6,000 physicians have left the GulfCoast since the storms and have not yet returned. When patients are brought to the hospital by ambulance, 70 percent of them remain in the ambulance for two hours before a room can be found.
Housing
The Senate Supplemental also includes $70 million for 3,000 Permanent Supportive Housing Vouchers. An additional $6 million was included for program administration and case management. These vouchers provide homes and case management services for extremely low-income people, including seniors and those with disabilities who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This provision was previously included in a 2006 Supplemental but was stripped out in negotiations with the House of Representatives and the White House.
By January 2007, the homeless population in New Orleans almost doubled from its pre-Katrina levels to an estimated 12,000. These homeless residents are living in abandoned housing, on the streets, in cars or in limited shelters or other homeless-designated housing.
As part of the Road Home program, Louisiana committed to providing 3,000 permanent supportive housing units for elderly, disabled and other homeless residents most at-risk. However, these units have been coming online without necessary federal funding.
NASA
The legislation includes $200 million for NASA to restore cuts to science, aeronautics and exploration programs that were reduced to pay for the return to flight of the Space Shuttle. This would benefit NASA facilities, including the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East, which is facing possible workforce reductions in the next five years as the Space Shuttle is retired.
Other Louisiana Provisions in the Senate Supplemental
$15 million for historic renovation of Jackson Barracks.
$5 million to Holly Beach La. for a waste water and sewer system”
It is time for Louisiana to come together now with urgency, put politics behind us, ensure that the US House concurs with the US Senate and obtain Presidential support for the US Senate version of the legislation.The longer that we wait for Category 3 certification and funding for Category 5 protection and money for basic Hurricane-related needs, the slower and more uncertain our recovery will be.
We need the US House to concur with the Senate legislation and then support from the President.The sooner our federal government is able to finalize this issue, the more certain our own Louisiana Legislature can fashion its own budget appropriations for the future.Our legislature will close out its session later this month.
The time for Congressional and Presidential action is critical.Louisiana citizens act now by urging voters in other parts of the nation to support the Senate legislation so we can begin to realize our dreams of levee protection and so we can make finance Hurricane-related matters made so acutely critical by Katrina and Rita.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Overflowing rivers in Iowa and other Midwest states forced evacuations and disrupted the region's economy on Friday with fears of worse to come from fragile levees and more rain.........
A Cedar Rapids hospital was flooded and evacuated its patients after a levee break on the Cedar River turned the downtown area into a shallow lake. Thousands were forced to leave their homes in the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years...... So you see folks,, we aren't the only people that have to deal with catastrophes..... And as the federal reserve drains lower and lower and the floods get higher and higher and more frequent, along with the unbelivable tornados not to forget the impending hurricanes one has to ask oneself.... "Where is the money going to come from to cover the costs????" And if money is a problem, perhaps an alternative way of thinking would be "How can we reduce the cost of providing relief for these disasters".... short of not providing anything at all???? Absurdity is when one does not employ common sense...................... So I would suppose that increased cost savings dircted towards superior construction techniques could be one of the answers to the many, many, many problems we see going on around us..... United we Stand..... Bankrupt we Fall..........
Written by ...............STRONGCONCRETE....................
on 6/13/2008
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Yeah U rite....... It's probably time to look for winter pasture up north anyways... This place is shot to sh!^......... Watched a legislature pizzing and moaning on the news last nite how 50K+ per year was barely a decent wage for 3 months of work out of a year.... It is all pretty well going as I figured it would.... Oh well.................... all I can say is keep the survival suit handy when the storms come... Written by
on 6/11/2008
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Finally gave your site more than a cursory glance (brevity is not one of your strong points). I'm not qualified to comment on the effectiveness of your product. However good it may or may not be I am certainly not surprised to find out about the difficulties with the bureaucracy (indifference, arrogance, favoritism, incompetence, stupidity, etc., etc.) you encountered. Have you considered bribing them? (just kidding) The more the public relies upon the government to provide the fix for what ails them, the worse things will get. Funny in a way, that is if one can laugh at a sinking ship that includes oneself as a passenger. Written by kpf
on 6/10/2008
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City of New Orleans/Orleans Parish…….. 75 million dollars……….St. Bernard Parish…..50 million dollars……. St. Tammany Parish…….. 50 million dollars…………… $ 175,000,000.00 divided by $1,000.00? = 175,000 linear feet…….. divided by 5,280 (1mile) =’s 33 miles…….. What? We need more??? Well, ok. I am only guessing at what is needed, perhaps someone would like to come up with some numbers……………………………….. http://www.strongconcrete.com/Page12.html....... But then again, perhaps our State, and the Corp of Engineers simply want to keep wasting time and money at the taxpayers expense.......... Amazing how time flies when a select few are having fun........ Written by ...................STRONGCONCRETE.................
on 6/10/2008
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The interesting thing aside from the low cost and rapid installation rates is that there would also be a ‘core’ sample to depth every foot of the walls interval, completely ruling out ‘guess-work’……. No more excuses of “There was a layer of sand the water seeped through under the wall that we didn’t know about for sure, which lead to the eventual failure.” which was one of the three contributing factors to a number of the flood protection failures…. The main ones being ‘shoddy’ construction, and the other being ‘they weren’t high enough’…… Wut ever…………………… Written by ...................STRONGCONCRETE.................
on 6/10/2008
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I'm sure we could be protected here in south Louisiana. We just need to have the politicians to have the best interests of those who elect them at heart and their commitment to achieve the desired results regardless of whether or not those who financed their election campaigns profit from the construction of our levee protection - oh hell, we're doomed! Written by Nabisco®
on 6/10/2008
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500’ feet of flood wall installed per day X 365 days =’s 182,500 L.F. of flood wall installed per year…. Divided by 5,280 feet ( 1 mile) = ‘s 34 miles per year of flood protection wall @ 85’ - 110’ below grade……… X 3 crews =’s 103 miles per year……. Folks, it is only yourself, the state government, and the United States Army Corp of Engineers that is holding you back from achieving this…….. In other words,,,, 10 years,,,, that equals 1,036 linear miles, or 5,457,000 linear feet. @ around 1k PER LINEAR FOOT? (JUST A GUESS AT COST, COULD BE A LOT LESS, and maybe it is a little more, whatever…… DEPENDS ON HOW EVERYONE WORKS WITH EACH OTHER, BUT THAT ISN’T MY DEPARTMENT) That equals around 5.5 billion dollars……….. And there is 100 billion heading Louisiana’s way????? Question is: are 5,547,000 linear feet of flood wall needed???? Again, that isn’t my department either…… So I suppose it is up to someone else to do the math…….. Written by ...................STRONGCONCRETE.................
on 6/10/2008
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Let's say you have this "doomsday device", which - if it gets wet - will destroy the world. What low lying flood prone area would you place this in? HEY! How about move it to high ground (as in "never has been flooded") where there is no chance of it flooding. Of course, we could just populate the coastlines - and hey while we're at it - the geological fault lines inland as well. Maybe that will work out okay.... Written by ... or maybe not.
on 6/10/2008
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Today...... Monday, June 9th, 2008....... GAYS MILLS, Wis. - For nearly a year, this tiny southwestern Wisconsin village has struggled to survive after a devastating flood. A new deluge may have sealed its fate........ Flash floods inundated the town of 625 over the weekend, just 10 months after residents worked to rebuild their homes and businesses..... from the last flood they experienced...... So in other words, floods are fairly predictable, and are generally a reoccurring event unless a permanent solution is arrived upon to redirect the flood waters..... Or folks just up and move away from the flood plane they inhabit...... And the continuing costs of procuring and dispatching ‘temporary’ protection mediums rapidly consume any ‘assumed’ savings stated as reason for ‘permanent – procedural’ approaches that may be embarked upon as standard operational proceedure…. A wise man always looks at the left hand while the right hand is waving around in the air…… And a wise man always invests in prudently constructed works that are designed to last…… When you assume the position of quality, you are rarely if ever disappointed…
Written by ...................STRONGCONCRETE.................
on 6/10/2008
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I appreciate the input on war that was offered below, but if Congress can't even figure out what correct domestic policies are, what on earth would cause you to think it is capable of effective foreign policy......? Especially when it comes to armed conflict??? Since the shores of Tripoli we have had problems with a certain mindset over there, and it is not going to go away by ignoring it. Face the bully head on... Forward, onward forward, or fight them on your front doorstep..... and on your streets and in your homes...... Simple as that.... That is a time proven approach, and there is no 'new' kind of 'change' that is going to supercede that reality...... A strong defense starts with a strong offense.... I sort of like that technology at www.floodwalls.com... It makes for a rapid temporary response system to anticipated emergencies under certain conditions.... Of course I wouldn't have called the website what they called it. Floodbags, now that is a more spot on nomenclature... And for temporary use, it may even be sort of cost effective in flood stages below 1-1/2 feet..... But that is their forteit.......... I prefer more 'permanent' solutions rather than band-aid approaches that end up costing more in the long run....... Written by .....Drone 91.............................
on 6/10/2008
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Iraq is but the latest installment of what is wrong with our foreign policy. Congress has allowed - since Truman - the President to send troops overseas without Congress declaring war. Therein lies a big part of the problem. What we need to understand is that giving ANY President this power is wrong, not simply the "other" party's President. Until we demand Congress follow the Constitution in this (and other) matter we will continue to suffer undesirable (and if anyone cares, unconstitutional) "ventures" in foreign lands at the whim of one President or another. Unfortunately, most of the legislation our elected representatives make law is contrary to the Constitution and – again, if anyone cares – contrary to the oath they swear to upon taking office. Written by kpf
on 6/10/2008
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The president and all his men have admitted that the war in Iraq was based on lies. We know this, and we know the military budget, including the bill to which this article refers, is bloated to feed the military. Even in New Orleans, we read glowing reports in the financial section about the wonderful effects on our economy from manufacturing tanks and rockets. We know our government is spending fortunes on war, meaning we will not have any funding for domestic infrastructure. I cannot bring myself to demand of Congress that it fund the reconstruction of New Orleans without simultaneously demanding immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. In my judgment, those who want war also want domestic destruction, and I predict they will get what they want. Unfortunately, I will suffer along with them, so for my own self preservation I must speak day in and day out about the lies we have been told and the fools we have been. Written by Robert Desmarais Sullivan
on 6/9/2008
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The president and all his men have admitted that the war in Ira Written by Robert Desmarais Sullivan
on 6/9/2008
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Money is money and where to spend it will always be an issue for debate. However, the next storm and the flood it brings with it is coming no matter what politics and politicians do.
Critcal infrastructure, hospitals, fire stations, police stations, water treatment facilities, wastewater treatment facilities all need to be protected. Waiting 10 years or more, for major projects to be studied, planned, funded and implemented is a recipe for more destruction and disaster. There are now robust, reliable emergency flood barrier systems that can be in place in just weeks that can protect property, reduce the cost of damage and protect critical facilities. Proven effective, low cost, reliable, emergency flood barrier systems must be a critcal part of any flood damage mitigation program. We have fire stations, fire extinguishers, and mandated sprinkler systems to protect us from fire damage. Losses every year from flooding far exceeds the losses from fire. It's time that we utilize these emergency systems for emergency flood protection. You can learn more about one such system at www.floodwalls.com. Written by Douglas Shackelford
on 6/9/2008
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I for one can truly appreciate Another Approach, but for something to occur to disprove what was just written would mean our public servants would have to be above reproach.... Written by ...Therein lays the enigma.....................
on 6/9/2008
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Louisiana Citizens act now by no longer supporting dishonest theives. Why should America entrust us with money? You have Betty Jefferson stealing money from charity, you have Mose bribing school board members, and Bill with FBI money in a 'FROZEN' account.....haa haa haa haa haaa haa haa. Seriously, that is just one example. You have Nagin wanting to pay millions to tow cars that could be towed for free. You have Nagin paying $21 for 311 service that others pay $7 for. You have Nagin who has a liar for chief technology officer who said he was educated at Tulane when really....i mean really...he is getting his degree from university of phoenix on line. TOO MANY POLITICIANS HERE ARE ON THE TAKE. A MILLION DOLLAR STRETCH OF LEVEE WILL COST 40 MILLION AND NOT BE BUILT CORRECTLY. WHY WOULD AMERICA GIVE US MONEY? WE HAVE PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT WE CAN'T BE TRUSTED. Written by Another Approach
on 6/9/2008
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Well Steve, it appears that the Senate wants more than 'lip service' from Louisiana, and is hardly impressed with our 'ethics' reform packages.... I would suppose they are saying that they want to see some equitable formulas appear in return for the hard vested dollars being entrusted to us..... What? You thought the ‘big money grab’ was going be allowed to go on unchecked forever or something??????? Written by .....Drone 91.............................
on 6/9/2008
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We need action now.
