The Dedly Blog

A Lesson From Katrina

Yes, it's been a year since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Biloxi, and Gulfport. With the news channels and just about everyone else offering their anniversary specials, I've decided to take a different route. There are several lessons to be learned from how people reacted to the storm, as well as the storm itself. One valuable lesson I'd like to focus on is that infrastructure can't be neglected.

For decades, warnings were sounded that New Orleans' levees were not up to the challenge of a major hurricane. Money that should've been used to upgrade the levees was stolen by corrupt politicians and greedy businessmen. This, most valuable component of the city's infrastructure, was neglected for far too long. The suffering that ensued was catastrophic and well known. Unlike the cities of Mississippi, most of the wreckage could've been prevented had the warnings been heeded and the necessary investments been made into the city's levee system. Why a city that sits below sea level would ignore these warnings for so long is inexcusable.

I saw on the Discovery Channel's show Extreme Engineering the process of repairing the levees. The host announced that $1.4 billion was being spent on the project. Does that sound high? Well, we spend that much every week in Iraq. Talk about gross expenditures.

Re-elected mayor Ray Nagin was recently heard to say on Meet The Press that half of the city's population has yet to return. I doubt they will. Why chance it? I hope that they've learned that defying nature in this manner (a coastal city below sea level that is) is either arrogant or foolishness. But I digress.

Infrastructure can't be neglected. It's a lesson that we here in the Northeast must learn. I read in the Fairfield County Business Journal (Link Dead in 2010) that the Tappan Zee Bridge, one of the many vital traffic arteries in the tri-state area is now 51 years old. It was designed to last for 50. While any one of the estimated 140,000 daily users, or the hundreds of millions of people who've used the bridge over the years (a total that Ted Stevens' Bridge to Nowhere will never come close to), can attest to the fact that maintenance is ever ongoing, it may not be enough. The bridge may have to be replaced.

Capacity for the interstates that run through the tri-state area has run out. I-95 is running at 312 percent capacity. This has been a problem for as long as I can remember. There was even a survey conducted by USA Today back in the 90's that asked truck drivers where the worst roads were. Two different patches of I-95 made the top 5. It's a veritable parking lot during rush hour. Unless something is done, there's bound to be a negative impact on the local economy. Why operate in the area if your workers can't get in and your products can't get delivered. Oh wait, that already happened. Connecticut lost most of its manufacturing base already. Only service industries and big military contractors like United Technologies and Electric Boat still operate here.

I don't know if blue states (CT, NY, & NJ) have enough leverage in Washington to get federal funds for this project. I know that CT is considering going it alone to ameliorate the problem on its end, assuming that it can get the cities along I-95 to go along. While I loathe big government projects, investing in the infrastructure discussed here is something that needs to be done. It'll be expensive. Most likely in the billions. Should we continue to hemorrhage $80 billion/year in Iraq, where I have a tough time seeing any return on investment. I think the money would best be spent here.

According to the GAO, the national debt went from $20.4 trillion in 2000 to $46.4 trillion in 2005. So much for Republicans' fiscal conservatism. If we're to continue to prosper, we should at least be investing our tax dollars and debt in our infrastructure. When the money spigot finally runs dry, I'd like this country to still be able to function. Investing in infrastructure, not foreign wars naively spreading "freedom and democracy", is the way to ensure that.

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DED

posted by DED at 12:29 PM

 Mike said...

Interesting thoughts, Ded.

The infrastructure is a great example of a difficult challenge: the need to maintain an essential, while trying to minimize both costs and centralization of power/oversight.

I think about this often.

8/28/2006 6:48 PM

 DED said...

Thanks. I think I wandered a bit towards the end.

I totally forgot to include the whole BP pipeline incident. Here's an oil company, normally considered progressive compared to its brethren, that pocketed its profits rather than investing in the very infrastructure that's vital to its own survival. It's madness.

8/29/2006 11:36 AM

 Alan P. said...

New Orleans is sinking. They should probably move the residential neighborhoods most at risk to higher ground. A light rail could be installed for commuting into the city. There are many projects in this country that are in need of investment, alas.

8/29/2006 4:58 PM

 Mike said...

Here's an oil company, normally considered progressive compared to its brethren, that pocketed its profits rather than investing in the very infrastructure that's vital to its own survival. It's madness.

As far as CEOs and other higher ups go, he financial incentives to max out on profits now are just too great. Plus, with the golden parachutes in their contracts, it's almost worth it to get fired at a certain point, at least before any liability (or criminal culpability) finds them.

8/30/2006 9:47 AM