hegemony rules

Growing up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, hurricanes were a fact of life. Several times during my formative years, there were hurricane warnings and watches; one year, the first day of school was cancelled because of a hurricane. Fortunately, the only hurricane I saw in person was a relatively tame one. Elena hung outside our doors for four days before slamming into Biloxi. I can remember seeing the sickly green sky, the sea roiling, and tree branches breaking in the wind. Still, nothing I experienced can even come close to what's gone down this week.

I can't believe that Bush has only "flown over" the area (instead of getting on the ground and making at least an attempt to look like he's actually concerned about this). His speech on the matter made little attempt to offer any sort of comfort to the tens of thousands who have been affected by the storm. Perhaps more unbelievable is the fact that this horrific disaster may have been avoided had Bush not just cut funding for Lake Pontchartrain flood protection by 80%, despite warnings from as long ago as 2001 that a major hurricane could severely flood the city.

In addition, according to a recent Salon.com article, part of the extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina was due to the large amounts of now-developed wetlands in Southeastern Louisiana that no longer form a natural barrier against flood waters.

The Bush administration's policy of turning over wetlands to developers almost certainly also contributed to the heightened level of the storm surge. In 1990, a federal task force began restoring lost wetlands surrounding New Orleans. Every two miles of wetland between the Crescent City and the Gulf reduces a surge by half a foot. Bush had promised "no net loss" of wetlands, a policy launched by his father's administration and bolstered by President Clinton. But he reversed his approach in 2003, unleashing the developers. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency then announced they could no longer protect wetlands unless they were somehow related to interstate commerce.

In response to this potential crisis, four leading environmental groups conducted a joint expert study, concluding in 2004 that without wetlands protection New Orleans could be devastated by an ordinary, much less a Category 4 or 5, hurricane. "There's no way to describe how mindless a policy that is when it comes to wetlands protection," said one of the report's authors. The chairman of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality dismissed the study as "highly questionable," and boasted, "Everybody loves what we're doing."

They're now saying that it could be 6 weeks before the waters are drained, and 12 weeks before residents can return home. And, the city remains in chaos. According to a report in the Telegraph, "One hospital in New Orleans asked for federal troops to take 100 small children to safety after doctors said an armed gang had attempted to storm the building."

The situation at the Convention Center is getting worse by the minute - these people have no food, water, or shelter, and are literally dying in the streets. The only person that's visited so far is Harry Connick, Jr. Why isn't the administration responding?

This is so sad. My heart goes out to all of those affected by this terrible event.