> New Orleans tragedy: The 17th street levee was bombed
24 September 2005, 06:13
Okay—I’m sitting in a hotel room with my two children, after being wiped out by Katrina. I’m white, educated, middle-class, and American. Not everyone was poor and black. The 17th Street Levee, which broke, was actually in an area of a all white, middle-class to very affluent area. I am NOT a conspiracy person. I don’t even know how I found this site, but I am fascianted. This website has sent me on a search for the truth...a truth I’m not liking very much.
But, I’ll tell you what I learned after living in New Orleans for 4 years. The levees were built to 20 ft around the city, except along Lake Ponchatrain, only 15 ft, because it was never completed. These heights were the "original" heights and had diminshed over time. Both my real estate agent who sold me our house and an insurance broker told me that a strong hurricane two could breach the levees. I saw evidence of this after a tropical storm. The water had gone halfway up the levee. There has always been a plan to "break" the levees if flooding was to occur, but I was told they would flood Chalmette, a poor area east of New Orleans. This was told to me by people whose families had lived there for generations. It was common knowledge. Do I believe they’d break the levees, yes, but I can’t fathom why it was the 17th St. Levee.
Something is horribly amiss in New Orleans and I mourn her loss. We’d only lived there for 4 years, but we loved it. Now we’re rebuilding in a city that’s foriegn to us and having to explain to a 2 and 4 year old why we can’t go home. I also believe our Mayor, Ray Nagin, does have valid fears for his safety. I think he knows the truth of what went on there and is afraid to tell. Our government has shut out all offers of help and just let people die. They’ve also censored the press and prevented accurate accountings of the amount of dead. All the computer models said 10,000 dead; they say less than a 1,000. The EPA refuses to report their findings on the testing of the water from the flooding. Assuring everyone it’s safe. I’m not assured and we’re not returning!
I said I’m not a conspiracy nut, but my husband is. He loves this stuff! When Bush was elected he wanted to move out of the country. I figured, okay it’s only 4 years. Then he was re-elected my husband was crazed, but still I figured we (the country) can survive four more years, how much worse can it get? Now we’re homeless, with nothing more than some clothes and our family pictures. I guess it couldn’t get any worse, huh?
Shannon from New Orleans
"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"
Okay—I’m sitting in a hotel room with my two children, after being wiped out by Katrina. I’m white, educated, middle-class, and American. Not everyone was poor and black. The 17th Street Levee, which broke, was actually in an area of a all white, middle-class to very affluent area. I am NOT a conspiracy person. I don’t even know how I found this site, but I am fascianted. This website has sent me on a search for the truth...a truth I’m not liking very much.
But, I’ll tell you what I learned after living in New Orleans for 4 years. The levees were built to 20 ft around the city, except along Lake Ponchatrain, only 15 ft, because it was never completed. These heights were the "original" heights and had diminshed over time. Both my real estate agent who sold me our house and an insurance broker told me that a strong hurricane two could breach the levees. I saw evidence of this after a tropical storm. The water had gone halfway up the levee. There has always been a plan to "break" the levees if flooding was to occur, but I was told they would flood Chalmette, a poor area east of New Orleans. This was told to me by people whose families had lived there for generations. It was common knowledge. Do I believe they’d break the levees, yes, but I can’t fathom why it was the 17th St. Levee.
Something is horribly amiss in New Orleans and I mourn her loss. We’d only lived there for 4 years, but we loved it. Now we’re rebuilding in a city that’s foriegn to us and having to explain to a 2 and 4 year old why we can’t go home. I also believe our Mayor, Ray Nagin, does have valid fears for his safety. I think he knows the truth of what went on there and is afraid to tell. Our government has shut out all offers of help and just let people die. They’ve also censored the press and prevented accurate accountings of the amount of dead. All the computer models said 10,000 dead; they say less than a 1,000. The EPA refuses to report their findings on the testing of the water from the flooding. Assuring everyone it’s safe. I’m not assured and we’re not returning!
I said I’m not a conspiracy nut, but my husband is. He loves this stuff! When Bush was elected he wanted to move out of the country. I figured, okay it’s only 4 years. Then he was re-elected my husband was crazed, but still I figured we (the country) can survive four more years, how much worse can it get? Now we’re homeless, with nothing more than some clothes and our family pictures. I guess it couldn’t get any worse, huh?
Shannon from New Orleans
"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"