Remembrance

Alice and I were a bit preoccupied with delivering Viv to think much about the anniversary of Katrina. So, we took her out today to see the memorial in our parish on the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) canal. The eye of the storm passed over St. Bernard and the memorial sits on the banks of the of the canal that holds much of the responsibility for drowning our community. When Katrina made landfall, the manmade waterway behind the memorial had a 30+ foot surge come raging up it. This canal was built back in the late 50's and has been an environmental disaster ever since. Huge tracts of cypress swamp have died from saltwater intrusion- the same tracts of land that have protected New Orleans in the past. Additionally, the canal has an average of only 5-7 deepwater vessels per week come up it and costs over $40 million per year to dredge.

I see more deepwater vessels pass by us on the Mississippi while I drink coffee on the porch in the morning than go up this damn canal in a week. It's high past time this thing was closed and Orleans parish, St. Bernard parish and the State of Louisiana have joined in a lawsuit against the Corps of Engineers to close it.

You're probably wondering why I've had this long rant on here. The reason is my daughter:


We have an opportunity to close this thing once and for all and make it a little safer for Viv. So, contact your local congressional leaders and tell them that keeping this thing open is unacceptable.