“Lack of proper planning in Sacramento created the conditions for what has become a natural disaster.” What? Failure of engineering design (capacity) and maintenance is man made. Had man not interceded wth building a huge, concentrated retention basin, rains and snow melt off would not be an issue...the waters would flow where they naturally have flowed for millennia.
That's pretty much the case anywhere. Had there never been retention basins, dams, diversions etc. constructed, the water would flow naturally. But the bottom line is.. the people of NorCal should still receive assistance. And as one FReeper said earlier, caveat that aid with the proviso that federal oversight and investigations on the decrepit condition of the spillways will follow.