The National Review and Mother Jones both get Hurricane Katrina wrong~John McQuaid
~Our New Big Herollero on'da Ladder!
~I realize levees are a lot less attention-grabbing than “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job” – or the exotic mechanics of top kills and junk shots, for that matter. But this is an important issue, a significant failure of American knowhow and accountability that has never really been addressed by the government.
That oversight will almost certainly lead to more disasters.
It’s essential context for understanding Katrina, emergency management, and government dysfunction in general.
Don’t leave it out, blogosphere.

Oil spill: Obama's Category 5 disaster~Virginia Pilot
The editorial makes valid points regarding responding to disasters. However, there is no evidence that "the Bush administration - and presidents before him - ignored warnings about the inadequacy of the levees protecting New Orleans."

The wholesale collapse of the federal levee system protecting New Orleans was a surprise to everyone in the city and the nation. While it's true that Ivor van Heerden Deputy Director of LSU Hurricane Center predicted severe flooding due to overtopping, no one foresaw the breaching and failure of the levee system in 53 locations.

William Kohlman, an insurance executive in New Orleans told his clients from 1985 - 2005 that they should buy flood insurance. "But never in my wildest dreams" said Mr. Kohlman, "did I think the entire flood system could break and fail."

This distinction is important because to say the Bush administration ignored warnings about 'inadequate levees' implies that the citizens of New Orleans were stupid for living there and imbeciles for rebuilding. And such disparagement is exactly what happened in the weeks, months and years after the flood.

For this reason, we ask that the Pilot Online take care in phraseology when discussing the horrific flood of New Orleans in 2005.

Sandy Rosenthal
Founder, Levees.org