nizo's Journal: New Orleans: city of broken promises

Read it and weep. Unless of course you are one of the companies that got a no-bid contract to do the cleanup, which still isn't done.

Just a smidge of perspective....

[HokieSeas]

We were hit by Isabel what was it....3 years ago now, nowhere as bad as New Orleans, and some areas are still being "cleaned up".

two thoughts

[stoolpigeon]

one: a politician made promises but the government has been slow and wasteful. wow.... that's never happened before.
two: there seems to be a lot of this stuff focused around the reluctance of the feds to rebuild everything just like it was before. excuse me if this seems callous, but rebuilding like it was before is idiotic. the govt. doesn't want to pay to rebuild homes that will just get destroyed when this happens again? good. it's a waste of money.

Re:

[nizo]

I agree that moving people right back into some of the same (dangerous) areas is insane; as usual I am frustrated with the severe waste all the way around, with many people not being helped to boot.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

i just don't think there is a way to deal with anything on that scale and not have waste and fraud. it isn't just corporate fraud either. from what i've read this happens anytime there is a natural disaster anywhere.

Re:

[Anarcho-Goth]

one: a politician made promises but the government has been slow and wasteful. wow.... that's never happened before.

Some people seem to be under the delusion that if the government hires private industry to do the work for them, that they will avoid the overhead, waste, and incompetence of bureaucracy. What advocates of "privatization" don't seem to realize is that any significantly large company (which is kinda a given for most government contracts) are also going to have a bureaucracy. So when you "priv

At training, my instructor showed us pictures

[Degrees]

At training, my instructor showed us pictures - she has relatives that live there, and had gone to visit. Yes, hardly anything is rebuilt. However, what she heard is that it is the insurance companies that don't want to pay. Why pay to rebuild in the flood zone? Just so that they have to pay again, next season?

I have no idea of what state the levies are. If they aren't built up enough to withstand another level 5 storm, then I have to agree with the insurance companies. Of course, the last time money was g

I don't think that's why

[artifex2004]

Or at least not the primary reason why. Contracts don't say 'we agree to pay only if we feel like it.' The insurance companies are arguing that almost all the damage is caused by flooding, and the insurance policies don't cover floods. If anything, it should be the federal government looking at whether it's economically sound to continue subsidizing the flood insurance some people do have.