LA Senators Slam Storm Protection Plan

The Bush administration issued guidelines Monday for deciding how to protect Louisiana from the most dangerous hurricanes _ plans that state officials said ignore specific fixes that could begin quickly.

The much-awaited report, developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, marked the first step in two years of planning how to rebuild New Orleans' levees, bolster Louisiana's coastline and develop other programs to control flooding from Category 5 storms.

But five specific recommendations Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, described as urgently needed to protect the state had been stripped out of the Corps' proposal since a draft was circulated last month.

Instead, Corps officials said they would put off embracing any particular plans to avoid uncoordinated or incomplete safeguards during the process. The rebuilding could take over a decade.

from the AP via the Washington Post

from the Times Picayune