New Orleans Levees Not Built for Worst Case Events

"An unnamed hurricane on September 1947 flooded Jefferson Parish, which includes metropolitan New Orleans, to depths of about three feet (one meter). The storm caused 100 million dollars (U.S.) worth of damage."

"Hurricane Camille made landfall some 50 miles east of New Orleans on September 10, 1965. Winds in the city reached 125 miles per hour (200 kilometers an hour) and the storm surge neared 10 feet (3 meters). After extensive flooding, the Orleans Levee Board raised existing levees to a height of 12 feet (4 meters)."

... and now Hurricane Katrina...

I say again... Whoever thought it was a good idea to locate New Orleans on land (land 6 feet below sea level) surrounded by water was a freaking IDOIT. I think now would be the perfect time to find it a new home.

New Orleans Levees Not Built for Worst Case Events

Is FEMA to blame?

"This is a national disgrace," said New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert.

"We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."'

"They don't have a clue what's going on down there," Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-AM Thursday night. "Excuse my French - everybody in America - but I am pissed."

First off we need to help those in need now. I am and I hope you can too.

Now it seems there are a lot of people pointing a finger at FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) as the ones who have failed the people displaced by this natural disaster. But I have not seen anyone placing any blame on anyone at either the County, City or State levels!

FEMA's purpose to to help states that request their help because a disaster is beyond the local and state's ability to handle. FEMA's purpose is not to provide on the spot care the second something goes wrong. It is the job of County, City, and State Emergency operations to deal with their County, City, and State Emergencies. The Federal Government can help when they need to. Do they need to in this situation? YES. Why? For 2 reasons. 1) because of the large number of displaced. and 2) cause of the complete and total failure of the COUNTY, CITY, AND STATE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS to ADEQUATELY plan and better handle this disaster. It is no secret that the city of New Orleans resides in a flood zone. It has been this way ever since the first idiot who thought it would be good idea to put a city there. The city has been a disaster waiting to happen from day one and EVERYBODY knew this. So please stop blaming FEMA for not doing the job that should have been handled by county, city, and state agencies. The only thing FEMA has failed at has been not pointing people to correctly place the blame where it belongs.