Clearing up road blocks?

Our roads were never too hot to begin with, but they have been buckling and sinking in unimaginable ways since billions of gallons of water flooded across them after the federally-constructed and mismanaged levees broke. The City of New Orleans needed lots of money and help to repair them and FEMA initially balked, claiming (like the sewer damage) that they'd need proof of actual flood damage for each and every repair. Now FEMA claims to be chomping at the bit to do the repairs and is blaming the city for not getting off its duff to get them the list.

It's another round of he-said-she-said. While I know Mayor Nagin has been a terrible steward of the post-disaster recovery, it's important to remember that the city has very limited resources (more repairs than we can handle, a smaller tax base, an exodus of professionals) and that we faced a disaster of unprecedented proportions. The mantra may get old for some folks, but it's still true: "The federal government broke the city, the federal government should pay for the repairs."


Photo by Chris Granger from the Times-Picayune (Friday June 22, 2007). A car slows down to go over a crater hole in the middle of the 6300 block of Argonne Blvd. in Lakeview.