The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to divert up to $1.3 billion for levee repairs from the Mississippi River's East Bank, which was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, to the West Bank, where tens of thousands of people have resettled.
Clem: I told ya Clyde this'n make the news.
Clyde: Betcha that thar Nagin went en blabbed.
The West Bank was one of the only parts of the New Orleans metropolitan area spared the flooding that followed the 2005 hurricane. But the levees protecting it -- and the roughly 250,000 people who live there -- are inadequate, the corps concedes.
Clem: Now who'da figured they'd all lump up in the same hole.
Clyde: Well them thar corp boys sure be lookin out fer em.
If approved, the plan has the potential to slow new levee work on the East Bank, where most of New Orleans is situated, and pit the city's residents against those on the West Bank.
Clem: Reckon it's a East vs West thing Clyde?
Clyde: Weren't that thar a Civil War thing Clem?
Clem: Naw stupid, that wer'en North and South ya fool.
"I think what the corps is trying to do is create some kind of turf war," said state Sen. Derrick Shepherd, one of the West Bank's most prominent politicians.
Clem: What turf they be talking about Clyde, it's all under water.
Clyde: That turf be under sea level ya dummy.
Clem: Thars be a difference?
The shift in funding is outlined in a budget proposal to be released this week and which Congress must approve. It would bring the total earmarked for West Bank projects to $3.3 billion, the bulk of $5.7 billion approved to fix and shore up the levees after Katrina.
Clem: Now seems to me Clyde, if'n they divied up that thar money to them 250,000 that would be a Heep of bucks and they could move to above ground.
Clyde: Naw Clem, somes like liven in a filler up next hurricane hole.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Ray Nagin said the mayor is not pleased with the plans and wants the corps "to live up to the promise of full protection" for the city.
Clem: Seems he ain't ever pleased Clyde
Clyde: Well if liven under water in a filler up hole don't make em happy, why not move.
If more money is needed, the corps should get it and "not compromise our already vulnerable level of protection," Nagin spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said.
Clem: Hell Clyde, with 5.7 billion, you and the boys could dig that thar New Orleans place up and move it to Texas.
Clyde: Reckon..seems Texas is still mad over what few did get planted thar.
The corps says projects on the East Bank will continue and that the levee system is as good now as it was before Katrina. Plans to further improve that system are tied up in technical reviews, according to the corps.
Clem: Hell, e'en it's as good now as then, what they need 5.7 Billion for Clyde?
Clyde: I suppose e'en ya gets it, yaws got ta spends it.
"There are still lots of areas where we haven't built anything" on the West Bank, said Carol Burdine, a corps official overseeing West Bank projects. "It's got a more serious need because it is behind other projects."
Clem: Seems to me e'en they got 250,000 people thar, they musta built something Clyde.
Clyde: Ya think they might be living in sleeping bags Clem?
Clem: Na ya fool, in then thar Femer Boxes.
Clyde: Most all them Femer Boxes rotted Clem.
Clem: Dang!
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Murray Starkel said the West Bank "probably is one of our most vulnerable areas." The work there is ready to go, and is already lagging behind other projects, so the corps argues that shifting the money now makes sense.
"We're working to build the most comprehensive system, that is, the best money can buy," Starkel said.
Clem: Seems to me they need more than money Clyde.
Clyde: Could be that all that thar money IS the problem Clem.
The West Bank would face serious flooding if a major hurricane like Katrina came ashore from the south or southwest. Some neighborhoods are below sea level, and there are navigation channels and lakes threaded through the region that can funnel a storm's surge. Plus, the levees are very low -- in some places, only 5 feet high.
Clem: Hell Clyde, they knew all that for'en the last bigging hit em.
Clyde: Yep, but sometimes it takes two-es ta larn anything
"Thank God the hurricane didn't hit the city dead even. There would have been no bank to run to," Shepherd said. "Thank God we have at least one side of the river where we can all congregate."
Clem: Makes sense ta me, since thar be nothin left to speak of on the other bank.
Clyde: Yep..
Louisiana's senators have already pleaded with President Bush for billions in new money to address the rising cost of levee work instead of shifting the funds.
Clem: Seems that 100 billion thet was ear marked for New Orleans weren't enough.
Clyde: Then what's all this fuss about 5.7 Billion, whole lot of Billions left over.
Clem: That be's if'n they can finds it.
"I am deathly afraid that this vital emergency post-Katrina work is now being treated like typical Corps projects that take decades to complete. We will not recover if this happens," U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, wrote in a letter to President Bush dated Thursday.
Clem: Maybe they should read Re-enginerring New Orleans Clyde.
Clyde: Reckon they'en can read Clem?
Clem: Hummm..well maybe not.
Marie Centanni, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kathleen Blanco, said she could not comment.
Clem: Well, better to keep ones yap shut and be thinking she's a fool, than open it again, and remove any lingering doubt.
Clyde: Got that right Clem, en Nagin could use some of that thar yap glue.
Source CNN
Todays Quote: "A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need the advice." Bill Cosby
