Jackson Free Press

Here's a link to the now-infamous story about House Speaker Dennis Hastert's truly execrable remarks about the city of New Orleans. No KatrinaBlog would be complete without this story in its archives.

It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's 7 feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans.

"It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," the Illinois Republican said in an interview Wednesday with the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill. [...]

Hastert, in a transcript supplied by the suburban Chicago newspaper, said there was no question that New Orleans residents would rebuild their city, but noted that federal insurance and other federal aid were involved. "We ought to take a second look at it. But you know we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of earthquake fissures and they rebuild, too. Stubbornness."

Asked whether it made sense to spend billions rebuilding a city that lies below sea level, he replied, "I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."

Previous Comments

ID

134308

Comment

As soon as it started raining on Monday New Orleans officials said they were having problems with their pumps working. That can't happen. Perhaps flood prone sections of town that are completely totalled could consider building up some foundation. You certainly can't do that if many of the buildings will be reused. But watch a little Discovery channel on the melting ice caps at the North and South poles and common sense will tell you that, New Orleans will be hit again. Since the Army Corps of Engineers have recomended measures be taken to prevent such a disaster for 40 years perhaps they should be asked what steps should be considered now. Returning the pumps, levee's, and flood walls to their pre-Katrina state should NOT be the goal.

Author

herman

Date

2005-09-06T14:19:02-06:00

ID

134309

Comment

our right, Iíve been hearing for years about how New Orleans could flood if there was ever a hurricane over a Cat 2, but the thing is they never prepared for the worstÖ and now the worst has hit. Humans have a tendency to build cities in the most inhospitable places, but we make them hospitable, we know danger is there, but we fly in the face of it any way, and building a city 7 feet below sea level is no different. If we are to keep New Orleans they need to seriously revamp the entire levee and water pumping system, try to prepare for something at least a little more than you think you need in a worst case scenario.

Author

S-R

Date

2005-09-08T12:56:49-06:00