If it wasn't Katrina that destroyed New Orleans then what was it?

Question

I've read several question over the last couple of weeks about Katrina and its effects on New Orleans.

Here is my question. If Katrina destroyed New Orleans then why didn't Florida get destroyed 11 times? Why wasn't there the same public out cry 11 times? It stands to reason that Katrina was not the culprit here. So what was?

If it wasn't the storm that hurt New Orleans severely then what was it? What actually put the people of New Orleans in harms way? Could it be the economic mind set and desisions of the welfare state set up in Loisiana? Could that be the difference? Could that be the problem?

Or could it be, as Kanye West put it, "George Bush hates black people"?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/sfl-aug2001hurricanehistory,0,5857394.storygallery

On the national level it is a red state but at the state and local level its very blue!

Answer 1

I am working in new Orleans now and the problem is the state and local governments. The idea of it is the federal responsibility is a poor weak argument. Reasearch the Levee Board and their failures, and look and the poor leadership of Nagin and Blanco instead of stepping up to the plate they played the blame game.

Answer 2

My favorite news program has been broadcasting from New Orleans on the second anniversay of Katrina. Here are some of the issues reported:
-- Battle Over Right to Return: Housing Advocates Occupy New Orleans Public Housing Office
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/04/144238
-- Fight to Reopen New Orleans Public Housing "Horrible Slow and Tragic"
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/04/144244
-- The Privatization of New Orleans: Curtis Muhammad on Tycoons, Trump and Gulf Coast Oil
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/04/145214

The rest can be accessed from this link:
http://www.democracynow.org/recent.pl
- Headlines for August 31, 2007
-- Jailed in New Orleans Two Weeks Before Katrina, Fmr. Corrections Officer Held for Four Months Without Charge
-- The Danziger Bridge Killings: How New Orleans Police Gunned Down Civilians Fleeing the Flood
-- "The Resilience of the People Is What Carries This City Forward": Poet Sunni Patterson & Hip-Hop Artist Truth Universal Reflect on New Orleans Two Years After Katrina
- Headlines for August 30, 2007
-- New Orleans Hit By Another "Hurricane of Racism, Greed and Corruption" - Community Activist Malik Rahim
-- "The Red Cross Has Basically Stolen Money from Victims in New Orleans" - People's Hurricane Relief Fund Blasts Katrina Aid Program
-- The Privatization of Education: How New Orleans Went from a Public School System to a Charter-School City
- Headlines for August 29, 2007
-- The Path to Destruction: Two Years After Katrina, Cleanup and Recovery Far From Complete

Answer 3

Katrina is a classic example of what is wrong with the American Welfare State.
I played tourist in New Orleans before Katrina. Every tour guide pointed out the pending disaster. If they knew about it, so did the politicians and the average citizen of New Orleans.
The Clinton administration gave $85,000,000.00 to New Orleans to strengthen the levies. The Mayor spent the money on a casino and to promote tourism.
New Orleans is the victim of their own INTERNAL politics and corruption.
Now, two years later they are STILL begging for everyone else to bail them out. In two years, San Francisco was WELL on its way to recovery after their earth quake WITHOUT federal help.
Same thing can be said for Chicago after their fameous fire.
THEY did it themselves.
WHY can't New Orleans?
It is the mindset of lazy bums on WELFARE that prevents progress!

Answer 4

The same secret G-men that planted explosives in the WTC the night before 9-11 also mined the levees, and then invented the Katrina hurricane with pre-recorded news broadcasts. It took hundreds of years to pull off the New Orleans wack job, because tunnels had to be dug underneath the city in order to lower the whole thing below sea level. During that time they primarily moved blacks into the city. The only reason I'm still alive with this information is because I use screen-names.

Answer 5

God did no longer enable hurricane Katrina destroy New Orleans. i've got confidence that President Bush has at his disposal a climate gadget via ability of The Russian Federation that he used to create hurricane Katrina to kill 3 birds with one stone: -effectively disable a huge form of African individuals without blame -clean out New Orleans citizens and disperse them to different cities as a manner to rebuild New Orleans in a greater white collar photograph -Have an excuse to ask for an obscene volume of money to play conflict with think of roughly it.

Answer 6

multifactorial as you implied. My brother was in law school in Miami when one hit. They canceled class for a few days and it was back to work. The building was trashed. Part of the resilience is that Fl is used to getting a beating and many buildings are created that way. I dont think N.O. was similarly constructed. They dont have that mindset either.
There may be some social issues as you describe in the lack of a significant bounce back. 3,000 of the Katrina victims were shipped here to where I live in eastern washington. I dont think the people there were very attached to the town. The big easy is a hell hole plain and simple. I took my wife there prior to Katrina and my opinion is that the town was and is a stye. A more foul city in the USA cannot be described especially since we went to the part thats touristy. I went to S.F. prior to that and it was just beautiful in the touristy part.

Answer 7

The fact that New Orleans was built on land below sea level made it more susceptible to the storm. The fact that its levee system was crumbling made it more susceptible. The fact that many people among the poor of its population couldn't easily evacuate didn't help. To consider many possibilities is helpful. To focus only on a "welfare state" mind set is condescending and dismissive.

Answer 8

The corruption of the politicians in Louisiana put the people of New Orleans at risk. You mount that on to a population of people that suckle the government teet and expect the very air they breath to be provided by the government and you will have failure every time. Instead of shoring up the levies, they build a casino. Smart move boneheads. Now they want to blame someone else. It's pathetic and sad.

Answer 9

I heard someone blew up the break walls one hour before Katrina hit. That's the truth and that's why the city flooded.

Answer 10

God is the only one that has complete control over the weather. You have to be prepare when severe weather comes your way. The location of their homes put them in harm's way. You choose to live where you live.