The Non-9/11 Domestic Story of the Decade?
Paul at Wizbang hasn’t gone that far, but it seems that he’d be justified:
For reasons that escape me, the mainstream media has completely ignored the fact New Orleans was not flooded by a hurricane but by an act of negligence by the Federal Government.
I’ve known this (and been posting about it) for months. Now evidence is mounting every single day. It is simply amazing that after 1000 people are dead and hundreds of billions of dollars in property destroyed, the only investigative journalism is being done by a small local paper. Is the MSM awake?
The New Orleans Times Picayune, which has probably already cinched a few Pullitzers for hurricane-related coverage, may have the Big Doozy on the Big Easy:
17th Street Canal levee was doomed
Report blames corps: Soil could never holdThe floodwall on the 17th Street Canal levee was destined to fail long before it reached its maximum design load of 14 feet of water because the Army Corps of Engineers underestimated the weak soil layers 10 to 25 feet below the levee, the state’s forensic levee investigation team concluded in a report to be released this week.
That miscalculation was so obvious and fundamental, investigators said, they “could not fathom” how the design team of engineers from the corps, local firm Eustis Engineering and the national firm Modjeski and Masters could have missed what is being termed the costliest engineering mistake in American history.
You think “Story of the Decade” exaggerates? Check out the last paragraph:
“This is the largest civil engineering disaster in the history of the United States. Nothing has come close to the $300 billion in damages and half-million people out of their homes and the lives lost,” he said. “Nothing this big has ever happened before in civil engineering.”
I’ll repeat the links: go to Wizbang and The Times-Picayune for more. Paul also notes that the “T-P” also has a number of other related stories.
and here I thought new orleans was flooded by water
there are probably people down there right now saying get that bleeping federal government out of my basement
Comment by Madge — December 1, 2005 @ 4:25 pm
#1, Please forgive the profanity edit. It was that or delete, so I’m assuming you’d prefer your comment be seen unless you tell me otherwise (this is a benevolent dictatorship :–>).
The Army Corps gets a large share, probably the largest share, but a look at the longer articles and the Wiz post indicates that there was were breakdowns in inspection and maintenance at the state and city level too.
I look at it as the culmination of pervasive corruption, incompetence and laziness at all government levels that I suspect is not unique to Louisiana, though it has usually been more obvious there.
Comment by TBlumer — December 1, 2005 @ 4:32 pm