The Mahablog: What Now?

The scenes of devastation from the Gulf Coast defy description. This is a terrible blow to the nation. The effects of this tragedy will be felt for generations.

Will Bunch writes in Editor & Publisher ("Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen? 'Times-Picayne' Had Repeatedly Raised Federal Spending Issues"):

New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.