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Storm Warning

An Investigative Series by John McQuaid

August 26, 2007

Eroding coastline, sinking land, rising seas; failing levees, poor evacuation planning; a city that would fill like a soup bowl if its flood defenses were breached. In 2002, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John McQuaid coauthored a series in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, where he'd worked for more than 20 years, that predicted the fate that would befall New Orleans 3 years later. Now, in a three-part series for Mother Jones, McQuaid reports that the initial surge of attention to strengthening the Gulf Coast's defenses has ebbed, once again, to complacency. And residents of the Gulf Coast are not the only ones who should be worried. As McQuaid reports, it's not just the levees that are broken—it's the entire political system by which we create disaster defenses. Climate change will bring more storms, floods, fires, and tornadoes, but Washington has done very little to get us prepared. Will it take another Katrina before the government acts?
—The Editors

Part 1: The Unlearned Lessons of Katrina

The Gulf Coast is a petri dish for the effects of climate change. What's happening there will show up in your neighborhood sooner than you think.

Part 2: What the Dutch Can Teach Us About Weathering the Next Katrina

A 1953 storm that killed 1,835 people forced the Netherlands to change the way disaster protection is done. The same can't be said of the U.S., where innovation has been stymied by pork-barrel politics.

Part 3: Never Again? The Politics of Preventing Another Katrina

The Bush administration's lackluster response to one of the largest natural disasters in the nation's history has been to rely on stopgap measures and incompetent contractors, rather than devising a national plan to protect the U.S. coastline. Will it take another Katrina for the government to act?

Sidebars:

Mother Jones' Full Coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath

A New Orleans house devestated by hurricane Katrina.

Photos by Sarah Cross

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motherjones, After watching John Mcquaid on C-span this morning, I am ashamed to call myself a subscriber to your magazine Mr. Mcquaid acted as if he was to important to even listing too the callers,I found his behavior very disrespectful and down right rude. Howard

Posted by:Howard C. RobertsAugust 26, 2007 5:28:08 AMRespond ^

Hi, I was there, north of the Lake and watched that terrible storm on 29/Aug/05. There is never just one answer or just one question for that matter, yes New Orleans was slammed by Katrina, but it was the Corps-trina that dealt the death blow. diana

Posted by:dianaredwing@juno.comAugust 27, 2007 7:05:44 PMRespond ^

Time to admit the government cannot take care of us. Time to take care of ourselves and start our own local groups.

Posted by:SeaAngelSeptember 5, 2007 7:23:16 AMRespond ^

It will take a kinder, more compassionate administration. Unfortunately, the current president doesn't have the intelligence to see how the incompetent handling of this disaster will affect his "legacy."

Posted by:JadeSeptember 5, 2007 11:06:34 AMRespond ^

Hi: I take exception with this "SOS villages" organizations. If SOS people and the companies (Phillips and Lehman's foundation) really wanted to help children they would stop their rapacious behaviour. these children our exploited by all means necessary. Leave these people to themselves and their resources alone and there will be no problems. SOS village organization is just an enabler. What is SOS doing to stop (in the US) the "need" for decisions which will affect this children and their children's childrens ad nauseum? This children are commodity for creating jobs in the US and other places in order that "the employed" people doing good work can have a decent living. This is slavery under another guise. Why is mother jones putting up with this [deleted]? Heather Paul needs to get a real life! Harris Pohl --- Mother Jones wrote: > The Following is a Sponsored Message: > > Dear Friend, > > All of us are flooded with messages about the really > sad > things in this world, especially when it comes to > children. > Pictures of orphaned, abandoned kids in the street > with > ragged clothes and tattered dreams are all too > common. > And yet there doesn't seem much any of us can do, > beyond a > small donation. > > But there is something you can do for World Orphan > Week > (WOW)! Would you be willing to raise awareness by > holding > an event in your community and raising funds for > orphans > around the world? If so, then visit > http://ga3.org/ct/bdqytf11hXZy/ > and join World Orphan Week 2007, our effort to > empower > you to take action for those who can't. > > WOW 2007, October 1-10, is SOS Children's Villages > campaign to call attention to some of the causes of > child abandonment: HIV/AIDS, war and extreme > poverty. > With over 450 villages in 132 countries, SOS knows > full > well the toll these conditions take on the most > innocent. > SOS has picked four of these countries, Botswana, > Lebanon, > Jamaica, and Cambodia to highlight these problems. > > For WOW, we are providing the tools necessary for > you to > go out and start your own World Orphan Week campaign > by > raising funds to support children who have been > orphaned > or abandoned. Volunteers all over the country will > be > organizing fundraisers on behalf of the children of > SOS > Children's Villages, from bake sales and > bike-a-thons to > simply collecting donations from family and friends. > > With your support, SOS Children's Villages can > continue to > give orphans around the world the greatest gift of > all: hope > for a better tomorrow. Please join this cause and > visit > http://ga3.org/ct/bdqytf11hXZy/ to take action for > those > who can't. > > Regards, > > Heather Paul, CEO > SOS Children's Villages - USA >

Posted by:Harris PohlSeptember 24, 2007 9:04:11 AMRespond ^


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