HarryShearer.com

Despite the national media’s failure to cover the true story of the 2005 flooding of New Orleans (hint: it was not “hit” by a hurricane), the city seems doomed to repeat the error. Today’s Times-Picayune newspaper reports that the city will be co-financing a study with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers into increasing the post-K levee system from protecting against a “100-year storm” to protecting against a “200-year storm”.

The 100-year standard was what the Corps of Engineers set when they rebuilt the levee system post-2005. That compares with the goal stated by President Johnson for the original system, to protect against “the maximum probable hurricane”. But, after four-plus decades, the Times-Pic reports of that effort, “the pre-Katrina levees were poorly constructed and prone to collapse”. Who built that system? The Army Corps of Engineers. After the system did in fact collapse, no one in that agency lost as much as a parking space.

So, here we go again. $14 billion was spent to build the current system to its lower standard, and now begins the process of letting the same agency try to build bigger and better. As encouragement, here’s part of the statement by the then-and-now Corps spokesman: “Climate change, sea level rise, subsidence — it all plays a factor.”

You know what else “plays a factor”? Depending on the same agency that failed so spectacularly 21 years ago.