Mitch Landrieu: “The point is, this was not just a natural disaster, it was a manmade disaster. One of our columnists captured it…”

“The point is, this was not just a natural disaster, it was a manmade disaster. One of our columnists captured it correctly. You could almost argue, based on the evidence that is in, independent evidence, that it was a Federal Government-sponsored disaster. Let me repeat, these are strong words: A Federal Government-sponsored disaster because it was the Corps of Engineers, the failing of a sophisticated and supposedly a strong levee system that failed, that put a major American city underwater 10 to 15 feet for 2 weeks and flooded a region, with multiple levee breaks in an urban area. It has never happened in the recent hitory of America. It has not happened since the great floods of 1927 when the Mississippi system was designed. It is written and documented beautifully in John Barry's book, ``Rising Tide.'' We have a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion coupled by a manmade disaster of neglect, poor design, faulty design, and no telling what else will be discovered. This is the result. These are homes that resulted. A hurricane did not do this. Katrina did not do this. Rita did not do this. We did this. The Federal Government sponsored this disaster by not securing and supporting the levee system, by not engineering it properly, and this home that is in Chalmette, which is in St. Bernard Parish which lost almost every home in the parish. This is why I say we shouldn't go home because people in St. Bernard, in St.…”