Posted on 09/10/2005 6:16:39 AM PDT by syriacus
Quote from Terry Ebbert, New Orleans' homeland security chief, August 31, 2005 to the AP:
"It's a very slow rise, and it will remain so until we plug that breach.I think we can get [the breach] stabilized in a few hours"
(Excerpt) Read more at ctv.ca ...
Just watched a legal expert on Fox go thru the disaster event by event. Based on the Law Gov Blanco is legally liable. If lawsuits are filed, there is no way she can duck it. In addition, when Bush went went down there, he offered her immediate deployment of Reg Army troops, she told both him and Nagel that she "needed 24 hours" to decide. This is DC politics. As everyone from Bush to Clinton to Carter learned, Washington Politics are a whole lot tougher then local politics. Blanco is toast. EVEN if the National Dems get the "Independent Commission" there is no way to rescue her based on the Law. I suspect that is why Mayor Nagel has been so quiet. He found out last Fri just who was holding the knife in his back, and it wasn't Bush
Would the Feds have done anything differently if Ebberts hadn't downplayed the breach?
I'm glad to hear the truth is getting out.
Probably. The Feds might have either recognized that there was no way they could plug the levy in time and recommended another mass evacuation to the governor (which probably would have been ignored) or they could have thrown all their resources in a most likely failed attempt to plug it fast. Either way, I believe the result would be a city under water with an equilibrium level equal to that of Lake Pontchartrain.
Bingo
I've been trying to find out background on Ebberts for the last week or so. Very little information available except that he was a Marine Colonel who had a couple Purple Hearts. No education information, no photo, nothing. Why are they hiding this guy. For my money, he should be tagged for misfeasance from the start.
Actually there were three breaks and the longer they leaked the larger they became due to the erosion. Question is; where were the"dry dock" barges that the city should have had on standby in anticipation of any breeches? Why were so many pumps inoperable? Why didnt canals have gates, which could have been closed to remove pressure at breaks?
Article in its entirety
Streets of New Orleans sink deeper into crisis
CTV.ca News Staff
Thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees in New Orleans' 10 shelters must be evacuated, given the deteriorating situation, says Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
"The situation is untenable,'' Blanco said at a news conference on Tuesday. "It's just heartbreaking.''
The storm's devastating impact on New Orleans is worsening as floodwater from breakdowns in the levee system steadily fills the city's streets.
Blanco said the power could be out for a long time, and with the break of a major water main, no drinkable water is available.
Mayor Ray Nagin said 80 per cent of the city was underwater, and in some places, the water was nearly seven metres deep.
A historical marina in the city was in flames, with no crews available to extinguish the blaze, as officials worked feverishly to search for residents who waited to be rescued.
New Orleans had appeared to dodge a catastrophe on Monday despite forecasters' predictions that the city, which lies mostly below sea level, would be overwhelmed by Katrina.
But by Tuesday, conditions began to deteriorate when the water began to steadily rise. Water lapped at the edge of the city's historic French Quarter after failed pumps and levees sent water from nearby Lake Pontchartrain coursing through the streets.
"It's a very slow rise, and it will remain so until we plug that breach. I think we can get it stabilized in a few hours," Terry Ebbert, New Orleans' homeland security chief told The Associated Press.
Officials are planning to use twin-rotored army helicopters to drop 1,360-kilogram sandbags on the breach to stop the flow of water, which would normally have been evacuated by a network of pumps.
The city of 480,000 was mostly evacuated over the weekend as Katrina closed in, but some refused to leave -- or else they were too poor or sick to go on their own.
An estimated 40,000 homes in St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans, are submerged, but other suburban areas, like Metarie, which is northwest of downtown New Orleans, are also underwater.
The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched helicopters to pluck residents from the roofs of their homes where they sought refuge. Boats are also being used.
In many instances, people had climbed into their attics to escape rising floodwaters. In those cases, either residents, police or the U.S. Coast Guard were forced to cut holes in their roofs to allow escape. There were stories of some people blasting exit holes in their roofs with shotguns.
While bodies were seen floating in the streets, no deaths have officially been confirmed yet.
Tulane University Medical Center Vice President Karen Troyer-Caraway told CNN earlier Tuesday that officials were considering evacuating its 1,000 patients because the downtown hospital was surrounded by water.
"The water is rising so fast I cannot begin to describe how quickly it's rising," she said.
Emergency efforts
More than one million residents remained without electricity across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- some without clean drinking water. And full restoration could be a few months away.
There were about 40,000 people in Red Cross shelters, and officials say it could be weeks or months before most of them will be able to return home.
Emergency medical teams from across the country were sent into the region and President George W. Bush cut his Texas vacation short to focus on the hurricane file.
Bush asked individual Americans to get involved with the relief effort, suggesting anyone who wishes to help could call 1-800-HELPNOW, log on to the Red Cross website at www.redcross.org or get in touch with the Salvation Army.
"The good folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and other affected areas are going to need the help and compassion and prayers of our fellow citizens,'' Bush said during a speech in California.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has sent medical teams and rescue squads to the stricken areas, plus supplies like baby formula, communications equipment, generators, water and ice.
And about 7,500 National Guard soldiers and airmen have been mobilized by state governors to assist in the relief effort.
Canada, meanwhile, sent condolences to the victims and offered help.
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said she told U.S. secretary of homeland security Michael Chertoff that Canada was ready to provide assistance if needed.
The Canadian Red Cross will send about 200 volunteers with special skills in managing disaster shelters, but the organization said they're not asking the public at this point for donations.
"The States has a huge capacity, so when there's a disaster like this, we're not asking people to open their wallets in this particular instance," Don Shropshire of the Canadian Red Cross told CTV News.
This is one of the more surprising things I noticed about the Katrina disaster. It amazes me that the engineers would be willing to vastly increase the surface area of the levee system. I have a hard time believing that any engineering analysis would not have put building canal gates at the highest priority. It's like a sea-going ship not puting hull isolation valves on their seawater supply mains because they assume that the pipes will always hold.
T Ebbert? any relation to Roger Ebbert, the movie reviewer? :)
[sarcasm] I think George Bush took the barges away the week before because he doesn't care about black people.[/sarcasm]
Kanye's next rap--
The gap grew very large,
Cuz Bush took away the barge,
and left no one in charge
Seriously, you've posed an interesting question.
NO's Party Hardy ethic diverted Levee funds to the tourist industry.
That would be Roger "Two thumbs up Ebbert"
This is Terry "Two Thumbs in the dike will hold it" Ebbert.
Maybe because some people are angry at him.
Maybe hundreds of people remained in New Orleans when they heard Ebbert had told the AP that the breach would be plugged in a few hours
"We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."
I don't know if you came across this article, from May 2003, around the time Ebbert was chosen The Security Czar
Retired Marine Col. Terry Ebbert stepped into the local spotlight last week as the nation went to war in Iraq amid national warnings of possible terrorist reprisals.Ebbert, 60, has been directing the city's new Office of Homeland Security and Public Safety since his appointment by Mayor Ray Nagin on Feb. 11. A highly decorated war hero and the former executive director of the nonprofit New Orleans Police Foundation, Ebbert has been given major powers and responsibilities as an executive assistant to the mayor. His duties are commensurate with his $114,676 annual salary.
If there is a disagreement between the homeland security chief and the police chief or the fire chief, Ebbert says: "I have the final say over bringing them all together so we all agree. It's a team effort." [snip]
A native of Chicago, he was a twice-wounded Marine infantry combat commander in the Vietnam War and a recipient of the Navy Cross, the nation's second highest award for valor.
He later directed civilian and military police protection for all naval bases and nuclear weapons sites in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, from the Indian Ocean to California.
He retired from the Marines after 29 years to direct police and fire security for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves along the Gulf Coast.
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