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-   -   NO Resident says "they blew the levee to save the rich people's home" (https://gfy.com/showthread.php?t=516083)

fuelcell 09-13-2005 05:56 PM
NO Resident says "they blew the levee to save the rich people's home"
 
A black guy that lived near the busted levee in New Orleans claims to have heard an explosion and believes rather firmly that "the city" did it to save the French Quarter.

I've seen this idea floated on various sites that the levee was blown on pupose (the general idea being that the section that went out was worked on before storm and was newly constructed of concrete and not earthen) but this is the first I've heard of a possible witness. Interesting.

Partial transcript:

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: This is the actual levee that runs along the canal on the eastern side of the city. And when the hurricane hit, the water came through at such force, it was apparently too much. You can see the massive breach here, and when you look around the corner you can see what the water did to the Lower Ninth Ward. It compleetley destoryed neighborhoods.

JOE EDWARDS, JR., 9TH WARD RESIDENT: I heard something go BOOM!

MUIR: Joe Edwards rushed to get himself and as many neighbors as possible into his truck. They drove to this bridge, where they've been living ever since

EDWARDS: My house broke in half. My mother's house just disintegrated. It was a brick house. All the houses down there floated down the street like somebody's guiding 'em

MUIR: Was it solely the water that broke the levee, or was it the force of this barge that now sits where homes once did? Joe Edwards says neither. People are so bitter, so disenfranchised in this neighborhood, they actually think the city did it, blowing up the levee to save richer neighborhoods like the French Quarter.

MUIR: So you're convinced . . .

EDWARDS: I know this happened!

MUIR: . . . they broke the levee on purpose?

EDWARDS: They blew it!

MUIR: New Orleans' mayor says there's no credence to this.

NEW ORLEANS MAYOR RAY NAGIN: That storm was so powerful and it pushed so much water, there's no way anyone could have calculated what levee to dynamite to have the kind of impact to save the French Quarter.

MUIR: An LSU expert who looked at the video today says, while the barge may have caused it, it was most likely the sheer force of the water that brought the levee along the Lower Ninth Ward down.

link to TFA The website has a video of the ABCNews interview.

Matt 26z 09-13-2005 06:04 PM
He didn't see anything. He just heard the boom, which could have been the wall coming down.

Someone told me there were witnesses saying two barges broke the levy on purpose.

iBanker 09-13-2005 06:09 PM
two words: bull shit

citizen tower 09-13-2005 06:10 PM
Bull 5678

Monique Niccole 09-13-2005 06:30 PM
I don't know if I can agree with the theory that the city blew the levee on purpose, but here is an interesting WSJ article on how wealthier neighborhoods were spared the brunt of the damage and how the more affluent citizens of New Orleans plan to re-build and re-develop the city. There's definitely going to be a hint of shrewdness during the re-development process and no doubt that this whole thing will have a big impact on the political, cultural, and socio-economic make-up of the city.

Quote:
NEW ORLEANS -- On a sultry morning earlier this week, Ashton O'Dwyer stepped out of his home on this city's grandest street and made a beeline for his neighbor's pool. Wearing nothing but a pair of blue swim trunks and carrying two milk jugs, he drew enough pool water to flush the toilet in his home.

The mostly African-American neighborhoods of New Orleans are largely underwater, and the people who lived there have scattered across the country. But in many of the predominantly white and more affluent areas, streets are dry and passable. Gracious homes are mostly intact and powered by generators. Yesterday, officials reiterated that all residents must leave New Orleans, but it's still unclear how far they will go to enforce the order.

The green expanse of Audubon Park, in the city's Uptown area, has doubled in recent days as a heliport for the city's rich -- and a terminus for the small armies of private security guards who have been dispatched to keep the homes there safe and habitable. Mr. O'Dwyer has cellphone service and ice cubes to cool off his highballs in the evening. By yesterday, the city water service even sprang to life, making the daily trips to his neighbor's pool unnecessary. A pair of oil-company engineers, dispatched by his son-in-law, delivered four cases of water, a box of delicacies including herring with mustard sauce and 15 gallons of generator gasoline.

Despite the disaster that has overwhelmed New Orleans, the city's monied, mostly white elite is hanging on and maneuvering to play a role in the recovery when the floodwaters of Katrina are gone. "New Orleans is ready to be rebuilt. Let's start right here," says Mr. O'Dwyer, standing in his expansive kitchen, next to a counter covered with a jumble of weaponry and electric wires.

More than a few people in Uptown, the fashionable district surrounding St. Charles Ave., have ancestors who arrived here in the 1700s. High society is still dominated by these old-line families, represented today by prominent figures such as former New Orleans Board of Trade President Thomas Westfeldt; Richard Freeman, scion of the family that long owned the city's Coca-Cola bottling plant; and William Boatner Reily, owner of a Louisiana coffee company. Their social pecking order is dictated by the mysterious hierarchy of "krewes," groups with hereditary membership that participate in the annual carnival leading up to Mardi Gras. In recent years, the city's most powerful business circles have expanded to include some newcomers and non-whites, such as Mayor Ray Nagin, the former Cox Communications executive elected in 2002.

A few blocks from Mr. O'Dwyer, in an exclusive gated community known as Audubon Place, is the home of James Reiss, descendent of an old-line Uptown family. He fled Hurricane Katrina just before the storm and returned soon afterward by private helicopter. Mr. Reiss became wealthy as a supplier of electronic systems to shipbuilders, and he serves in Mayor Nagin's administration as chairman of the city's Regional Transit Authority. When New Orleans descended into a spiral of looting and anarchy, Mr. Reiss helicoptered in an Israeli security company to guard his Audubon Place house and those of his neighbors.

He says he has been in contact with about 40 other New Orleans business leaders since the storm. Tomorrow, he says, he and some of those leaders plan to be in Dallas, meeting with Mr. Nagin to begin mapping out a future for the city.

The power elite of New Orleans -- whether they are still in the city or have moved temporarily to enclaves such as Destin, Fla., and Vail, Colo. -- insist the remade city won't simply restore the old order. New Orleans before the flood was burdened by a teeming underclass, substandard schools and a high crime rate. The city has few corporate headquarters.

The new city must be something very different, Mr. Reiss says, with better services and fewer poor people. "Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way: demographically, geographically and politically," he says. "I'm not just speaking for myself here. The way we've been living is not going to happen again, or we're out."

Not every white business leader or prominent family supports that view. Some black leaders and their allies in New Orleans fear that it boils down to preventing large numbers of blacks from returning to the city and eliminating the African-American voting majority. Rep. William Jefferson, a sharecropper's son who was educated at Harvard and is currently serving his eighth term in Congress, points out that the evacuees from New Orleans already have been spread out across many states far from their old home and won't be able to afford to return. "This is an example of poor people forced to make choices because they don't have the money to do otherwise," Mr. Jefferson says.

Calvin Fayard, a wealthy white plaintiffs' lawyer who lives near Mr. O'Dwyer, says the mass evacuation could turn a Democratic stronghold into a Republican one. Mr. Fayard, a prominent Democratic fund-raiser, says tampering with the city's demographics means tampering with its unique culture and shouldn't be done. "People can't survive a year temporarily -- they'll go somewhere, get a job and never come back," he says.

Mr. Reiss acknowledges that shrinking parts of the city occupied by hardscrabble neighborhoods would inevitably result in fewer poor and African-American residents. But he says the electoral balance of the city wouldn't change significantly and that the business elite isn't trying to reverse the last 30 years of black political control. "We understand that African Americans have had a great deal of influence on the history of New Orleans," he says.

A key question will be the position of Mr. Nagin, who was elected with the support of the city's business leadership. He couldn't be reached yesterday. Mr. Reiss says the mayor suggested the Dallas meeting and will likely attend when he goes there to visit his evacuated family

Black politicians have controlled City Hall here since the late 1970s, but the wealthy white families of New Orleans have never been fully eclipsed. Stuffing campaign coffers with donations, these families dominate the city's professional and executive classes, including the white-shoe law firms, engineering offices, and local shipping companies. White voters often act as a swing bloc, propelling blacks or Creoles into the city's top political jobs. That was the case with Mr. Nagin, who defeated another African American to win the mayoral election in 2002.

Creoles, as many mixed-race residents of New Orleans call themselves, dominate the city's white-collar and government ranks and tend to ally themselves with white voters on issues such as crime and education, while sharing many of the same social concerns as African-American voters. Though the flooding took a toll on many Creole neighborhoods, it's likely that Creoles will return to the city in fairly large numbers, since many of them have the means to do so.
http://www.realestatejournal.com/buy...09-cooper.html

EroticySteve 09-13-2005 07:14 PM
I'm already tiring of all of the conspiracy people and disadvantaged and mistreated victims of the hurricane.

Look, it's not an easy thing for anyone. It's not good for anyone. Amidst the shuffle and turmoil some didn't get the same treatment or consideration that others did. No one was out to get anyone. This took everyone by suprise.

I'm sorry for all. It's not going to get easier or better by complaining and blaming. I think the response to the situation given the size and devastation is excellent. I commend all of those who are helping to make life better for the people affected.

NoHassleSteve 09-13-2005 07:19 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by iBanker
two words: bull shit
two words:

sea level

9th Ward is below it.
French quarter is above it.

LiveDose 09-13-2005 07:25 PM
It's always just a matter of time after events like this that the kooks take off their tin foil hats and grab their 1 minute of fame.

Here's some advice. Build your home above sea level retard.

Loryn 09-13-2005 07:35 PM
My God, they will do anything to make their agenda right! That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard! :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Thanks I needed the laugh tonight! :thumbsup

TexasDreams 09-13-2005 07:40 PM
I knew it, they blew up the levee from the grassy knoll!!! :Oh crap

KRL 09-13-2005 08:46 PM
One thing that was disturbing was one of the wealthy white communities had their police force block off a bridge so that none of the blacks fleeing NO would be able to come into their neighborhoods. It even got to the point that the police started to fire warning shots over the heads of the oncoming inner city people to make them turn around.

The police chief is even acknowledging this and justifying it by saying if we had let all those people come into our parrish, all the stores and homes would have been looted and burned just like New Orleans.

:(

will76 09-13-2005 09:39 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by KRL
One thing that was disturbing was one of the wealthy white communities had their police force block off a bridge so that none of the blacks fleeing NO would be able to come into their neighborhoods. It even got to the point that the police started to fire warning shots over the heads of the oncoming inner city people to make them turn around.

The police chief is even acknowledging this and justifying it by saying if we had let all those people come into our parrish, all the stores and homes would have been looted and burned just like New Orleans.

:(
It's amazing what media will report, and fuckup the truth for the sake of selling the story. You have reporters come to a city where they do not live, some for the first time, and they report like they actually know shit.

For those of you who care about these issues, I can explain. I've lived here my whole life and all of this is total bullshit.

The bridge that was blocked as quoted above, that side of the river has a lot of blacks and low income residents as well. It's not the "rich people" area. That town did not want the mess and choas of new orleans to run rampit in their area. It has nothing to do with protecting the rich, it was police trying to protect their own homes, and their residents homes, period. Black homes and white homes, middle and poor areas, they were protecting all of their residents. They also did not have the supplies or shelters to care for these people. If those people would have crossed they would have looted for food and water, which
I would not have blammed them for trying to survive. I am sure some of them would have done worse, looted for the hell of it and started fires. I also don't blame the police for trying to protect their community from that. That is what really happened.

The other issue, that only the black poor areas got flooded... Damn media is sheep and so stupid. quote: " The mostly African-American neighborhoods of New Orleans are largely underwater, and the people who lived there have scattered across the country. " Note to fools, 80% of Orleans parish is black. 80% was flooded. White rich areas were flooded too. The biggest population of white residents are in Lake View, which the average home value is 500K, 100% of this area was flooded. This "rich white" area was the first to get flooded before the water moved to the rest of the city. The french quarter did not flood because of its elevation, it is above sea level. The other area mentioned where white people live is above sea level as well. Also, god forbid some rich area hired security guards. If you can afford it more power to you, if the poor had the money to do it they would do it too.

The second area to get flooded was the 9th ward, a poor black area, but the water kept going out of Orleans parish to St. Bernard parish which is 98% white and on average a middle class suburb, 100% of the houses in St. Bernard were flooded, over 65K white people, and over 30K homes. I guess they forget to mention this in the story...

So the fucking media, who knows jack shit about the demographics of the city, gets a few interviews from a couple black guys who said they heard "boom" and they create a racially baised article claiming only the black areas got flood damange. Total bullshit, don't believe anything you read from these fucking idiots.

CuriousToyBoy 09-13-2005 10:12 PM
The truth is out there Scully !

;-)

tristan_D 09-14-2005 12:11 AM
that's fucking pathetic.

strats 09-14-2005 01:01 AM
yawn, the u.s. killing u.s. citizens again? Oh yeah because they are really 'special' ppl doing that bs

strats 09-14-2005 01:05 AM
Oh yeah111274, liek oh my gg... teh hrrikaen n we r at our nice howse elohelllll1117ten4

strats 09-14-2005 01:06 AM
hiy, i'm a cia agent n1gger

pornstar2pac 09-14-2005 01:08 AM
it's all bush's fault

SmokeyTheBear 09-14-2005 01:08 AM
Its not such a strange idea, but in this case, it just wasn't the case..

BUT if i were a major insurer for one side and not the other , it sure would be nice if someone saved me 100 million dollars by crashing a barge through the levy :)

I would highly doubt the government would have thought that far ahead. If it happened it was done by private means..

abadfish 09-14-2005 01:12 AM
If anything is going to make me racist it's black people who are too ignorant to realize the only reason they are getting the short end of the stick is because they are poor and worthless and not because they are black.

This isn't a black vs white issue. I am almost positive that the nicer neighborhoods were built in areas that were above sea level and where they would be safest. It's not cause they are white, it's because they have money. You can't tell me there isn't well off black people in these neighborhoods too???

The fucking mayor of NO is black! Is he racist against blacks too?

This is getting out of hand. Fuck you Kanye West... another idiot with no brain or common sense opening his damn mouth.

kmanrox 09-14-2005 01:16 AM
who cares? its a perk of being rich and why we all strive to be rich, right?


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