Greg Palast: "Katrina, Four Years Later: Expert Fired Who Warned Levees Would Burst"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

By Greg Palast Wednesday Aug 26, 2009 12:00pm

Tonight on Air America: Greg Palast joins Crooks and Liars' John Amato, guest host of "Clout!" on your local progressive station or streaming live on AirAmericaRadio.com at 9pm Eastern.

This week, special for Crooks and Liars readers, download for free, Palast's film for Democracy Now!, "Big Easy to Big Empty: How the White House Drowned New Orleans."

There's another floater. Four years on, there's another victim face down in the waters of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Ivor van Heerden.



I don't get to use the word "heroic" very often. Van Heerden is heroic. The Deputy Director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, it was van Heerden who told me, on camera, something so horrible, so frightening, that, if it weren't for his international stature, it would have been hard to believe:

"By midnight on Monday the White House knew. Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breached. Nobody."

On the night of August 29, 2005, van Heerden was shut in at the state emergency center in Baton Rouge, providing technical advice to the rescue effort. As Hurricane Katrina came ashore, van Heerden and the State Police there were high-fiving it: Katrina missed the city of New Orleans, turning east.

What they did not know was that the levees had cracked. For crucial hours, the White House knew, but withheld the information that the levees of New Orleans had broken and that the city was about to drown. Bush's boys did not notify the State of the flood to come, which would have allowed police to launch an emergency hunt for the thousands who remained stranded.

"Fifteen hundred people drowned. That's the bottom line," said von Heerden. He shouldn't have told me that. The professor was already in trouble for saying, publicly, that the levees around New Orleans were no good, too short, by 18". They couldn't stand up to a storm like Katrina. He said it months before Katrina hit -- in a call to the White House, and later in the press.

[Raster]

1. Persons in the White House *KNEW* the levees had cracked! They KNEW!

"For crucial hours, the White House knew, but withheld the information that the levees of New Orleans had broken and that the city was about to drown. Bush's boys did not notify the State of the flood to come, which would have allowed police to launch an emergency hunt for the thousands who remained stranded.

"Fifteen hundred people drowned. That's the bottom line," said von Heerden. He shouldn't have told me that. The professor was already in trouble for saying, publicly, that the levees around New Orleans were no good, too short, by 18". They couldn't stand up to a storm like Katrina. He said it months before Katrina hit -- in a call to the White House, and later in the press.

They left people to drown.

[redqueen]

23. Yep. Glad that at least Palast isn't letting this go.

Shame about the whore M$M though.

[lapfog_1]

2. When is everyone going to wake the fuck up?

This wasn't incompetence. It wasn't an accident.

This was PLANNED. A contingency plan, yes, but planned nevertheless.

The plan was like this.

IF a Hurricane should come close to New Orleans, and IF the neglected dikes were to breech, WE will do NOTHING for the people that remained in the city. NOTHING. As for the rest, we will buss them to parts hither and yon, for the purpose of removing a significant portion of BLACK voters from the city of New Orleans. Democratic voters.

And we will do NOTHING to help them rebuild or return.

That's how we get another southern state to go Republican.

[Fire1]

3. I'd say that's pretty accurate. n/t

[Raster]

7. Unfortunately, it is more than "pretty accurate."

People were left to die. To fucking die. Contrast to the Garden District where BLACKWATER was patrolling with machine guns to ensure the homes of the rich and powerful were well protected. Contrast to the bridge where hundreds of persons were turned away AT FUCKING GUNPOINT, SOME EVEN SHOT AT, turned away from escaping across the bridge to safety. A whole line of white policemen in riot gear with assault weapons turned back starving, half dead refugees dying of thirst and just looking for safety. They turned them back. The mayor and the city council of this fair little hamlet DEFENDED THE POLICE. For the love of god, emergency shipments of water and ice and food WERE TURNED AWAY. "You're doing a heckofa job, Brownie!"

[jtrockville]

5. You forgot the "blame game" part, where they blamed the DEM Governor

[truebrit71]

11. There definitely appeared to be that feel to it judging by the lack of response...

..the fact that NO isn't completely rebuilt four years later should be a national disgrace...

[redqueen]

31. It *is* a national disgrace... but for some reason it's off the M$M's radar.

Shameful... beyond shameful, tragic.

[Echo In Light]

27. +1

[Metta]

4. Crimes against humanity with undertones of genocide.

Thanks to * and to Newt Gingrich who, as speaker of the house, defeated funding that would have enriched and expanded New Orleans' hurricane prevention wetlands.

[Raster]

6. That's OK, they're just poor, black folk that would probably vote Democrat.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Raster]

8. Kick!

:kick:

[Raster]

9. I will kick this again and again. The Bush* White House made a conscious decision to withhold

information that the levees had cracked and flooding was imminent. People--just like you and me--were left to drown--DELIBERATELY! In my book that's called murder.

[bananas]

10. k&r nt

[EFerrari]

13. Yep. And Homeland Sekurity arrested Greg Palast for reporting it. n/t

[blm]

22. Kanye West called it exactly right.....George Bush didn't care and his fascist pals wanted NO for

their own financial gains.

[redqueen]

24. Thanks for keeping it kicked.

:thumbsup:

[Raster]

26. Thank you, redqueen. We cannot let this just be pushed aside.

Even though the bush*/cheney* crimes are legion, the cold-blooded murder of American citizens and the destruction of a major American city is beyond the pale. When are these bastards going to be held accountable?

[redqueen]

28. How can our leaders not be ashamed of letting it slide...

that's what I wonder.

We will not forget, and we shouldn't let them forget, either.

[Raster]

12. Crosspost from another story here on DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=475328&mesg_id=475328

[Raster]

14. Kick for those that died in New Orleans. Kick for those that left.

Kick for a city left to drown!:kick:

[JonLP24]

15. I love Greg Palast. Great journalist

Too late to recommend but :kick:

[Swamp Rat]

16. k&r

[ChickMagic]

21. Great work, Swampie!

I especially like the subliminal skull on the building behind the lizard king.

[JuniperLea]

17. LIHOP

:cry:

I'm sick, just sick.

[omega minimo]

18. The response to Katrina NOLA was GENOCIDE

:cry: :evilfrown:

The thread on DU today? About the crazy fundie AA preacher who asks, why don't black people say "Thank You I Love America You Brought Us All Over Here So You Could Send Us To The Best Colleges And Give Us Free Puddin' Pops For Life, Thank You Jesus, Thank You America, Thank you Civil War soldiers who died, Thank You White People"?

Why don't they say that? The genocide four years ago may be part of the reason, hmmmmm?

It was a test. Of how much. Outrage. We Americans. Would calmly witness. On TV. Perpetrated on other Americans. By the people in charge of government and public safety.

We. Failed.

[Raster]

19. We failed in the worst of ways. My heart is still sick. We left people to die.

We allowed madmen to drown a city because of skin color.:kick:Murderous racism is alive and well. Just ask New Orleans.

[omega minimo]

30. Yes

and the (hypnotized acceptance of) murderous racism also provided cover IMHO for that test, that in future could be applied to other socioeconomic communities. Because America accepted it.

"It was a test. Of how much. Outrage. We Americans. Would calmly witness. On TV. Perpetrated on other Americans. By the people in charge of government and public safety."

[derby378]

20. KICK for the people of New Orleans

And no charges against George W. Bush yet? :mad:

[Raster]

25. bush* and cheney* and their fellow conspirators have NEVER been held responsible

for any of their illegal activities, from their stealing Selection 2000 to the illegal and immoral Iraq war. Welcome to the United States, where we name airports and freeways after WAR CRIMINALS!

Remember, it's not a war crime if you're a Republican!:sarcasm:

[Better Believe It]

29. Kick Must read

[Kaleva]

32. Weren't there any locals watching the levees?

"On the night of August 29, 2005, van Heerden was shut in at the state emergency center in Baton Rouge, providing technical advice to the rescue effort. As Hurricane Katrina came ashore, van Heerden and the State Police there were high-fiving it..."

What good is a state emergency center when the occupants are clueless as to what the conditions are outside? Was it their SOP that they'd get all their info from the White House?

I see incompetence at all levels regarding the response to Katrina.

"The professor was already in trouble for saying, publicly, that the levees around New Orleans were no good, too short, by 18."

The levees being inadequate in protecting New Orleans from a Cat 5 hurricane has been discussed publicly for many years by many people.