“Built to last till time itself falls tumbling from the wall”

So here we are once again. The democratic race rolls on, inflation continues to rise and natural disasters occur all over the world. Myanmar gets devastated by a cyclone, China gets destroyed by an earthquake, tornadoes rip through the south, and someone decided to start a bunch of fires in Florida. What the hell is going on?

Myanmar’s government is having problems accepting disaster relief. China’s death toll continues to rise. And we still have New Orleans.

New Orleans and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is an interesting tale. Unlike Myanmar, our government did respond. Efforts to rebuild and restore have been hit or miss. Albeit disheveled, highly criticized and costly - New Orleans DID get relief. As evidenced by the recent natural disasters and using a little common sense, we will never be able to defeat Mother Nature and her awesome power. What we can do is prepare for the inevitable (unlike duct tape terrorist prevention). This leads me to the levees. READ ON for more of LoC…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the governmental agency that oversees the design, construction and upkeep of the levees, thanks to the Flood Control Act of 1965. But who oversees the Corps of Engineers to ensure the design and implementation of the levees are structurally sound and able to withstand stronger hurricanes? No one.

No one until now that is…except for the fact that the Corps does not necessarily have to use, implement or acknowledge the advice and suggestions given by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority, American Society of Civil Engineers or the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force. The levee system implemented in the 1980’s was based on a model from a 1959 report on hurricane strengths, which did not include Hurricane Betsy. So if the levees had been built to withstand Hurricane Betsy it would have been better suited to withstand Katrina, correct? Well, apparently a judge believes that homeowners have the right to make a case to hold the governmental agency responsible for the damage caused to St. Bernard Parish and beyond.

Though unlikely, my hope is that they build the levees to be bigger and stronger for the future of the great city of New Orleans. New Orleans was, after all, the birthplace of American music and without it where would any of us completely-music-obsessed-Hidden-Track-readers be?

In other Nawlins news, check out Brad Pitt’s organization ‘Make it Right’ to help rebuild the Lower 9th Ward and his new tribute tattoo. Fear not - even Panic fans are getting involved with ‘Make It Right.’