Monday, November 28, 2005

Another man who knew

For those who still require convincing evidence that the Katrina tragedy could have been avoided comes this episode of PBS's Nova, called Storm That Drowned a City.

Among several faces that became familiar to the American public during the height of the storm coverage is that of Ivor van Heerden, a hurricane expert at Louisiana State University. Like AFGE's Leo Bosner, president of the Local at FEMA headquarters, van Heerden tried to alert any official he could reach to the tragedy that awaited New Orleaneans who remained in the city after the storm hit.

In numerous television appearances during the storm and its immediate aftermath, van Heerden reservedly explained, with scientific precision, what he knew about the storm and its wrath. Here, before Nova's cameras, however, he sheds tears over the lost opportunity to alert those in the Ninth Ward that the flood was headed their way:

The biggest failing in all of this was we should have warned everybody. We could have told the media on Monday night. The levees apparently broke Monday afternoon—the ones that really flooded the main city of New Orleans. We could have got to the media. We could have had vehicles driving on the interstates with bullhorns, telling people. We even could have used helicopters with bullhorns. We could have warned the people, "A big flood's coming, take evasive action." We didn't.

3 Comments:

At 1:27 PM, Blogger JustaDog said...

I really feel sorry for you people. You have no concept of the power of a hurricane and the weakness of a union-made levy.

The biggest failing in all of this was we should have warned everybody. - there was plenty of warning, but the unionized police force of New Orleans decided to run off and leave their people.

Then there were all those hundreds of school buses that could have been used - waiting to be flooded - all those union drivers that could have moved most all those poor people out - never happened.

Plenty of time, plenty of warning - total failure of a "model" liberal city to take care of itself.

 
At 2:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's why you're Just a Dog... you hide your own incompetence by attacking hard-working americans.

Fortunately people like you are not worth the aggravation.

 
At 7:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is one consistant understanding regarding the facts showing the love hate relationship for the African American citizens. The facts in history regarding Immigration leads to the long standing problems. No melting pot here.

 

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