New Orleans Levees And Wetlands

[Subdude]

Dec. 8, 2005, 6:55PM

Battle for New Orleans is over; this president lost it

Killing funds to fix barrier islands a kiss of death for city

By MIKE TIDWELL

As we arrive at the 100-day mark since Hurricane Katrina hit, it's time we ended our national state of denial and abandon New Orleans for good. Katrina destroyed the Big Easy — and future Katrinas will do the same — because 1 million acres of coastal islands and marshland vanished in Louisiana in the last century because of human interference. These land forms served as natural "speed bumps," reducing the lethal surge tide of past hurricanes and making New Orleans habitable in the first place.

A $14 billion plan to fix this problem — widely viewed as technically sound and supported by environmentalists, oil companies and fishermen alike — has been on the table for years and was pushed forward with greater urgency after Katrina hit.

Chronicle op-ed

Death of an American City

Published: December 11, 2005

We are about to lose New Orleans. Whether it is a conscious plan to let the city rot until no one is willing to move back or honest paralysis over difficult questions, the moment is upon us when a major American city will die, leaving nothing but a few shells for tourists to visit like a museum.

There are many unanswered questions that will take years to work out, but one is make-or-break and needs to be dealt with immediately. It all boils down to the levee system. People will clear garbage, live in tents, work their fingers to the bone to reclaim homes and lives, but not if they don't believe they will be protected by more than patches to the same old system that failed during the deadly storm.

NY Times editorial