Warned About Katrina
by Jeff Crouere

“As long as any flood control or hurricane protection work is left undone, I will reassess any project not directly related to those objectives. For the levee board to spend money on other projects can pose a grave danger to residents of New Orleans.” That is what William Nungesser, Former Orleans Parish Levee Board President predicted way back on April 22, 1996.

Ladies and gentlemen, New Orleans was warned. One man, not incidentally a long-time conservative leader in the state who was often ahead of his time, made it his unpopular mission to alert the public about the danger the city was facing from hurricanes. Nine years before Katrina struck, Nungesser was fighting to stop projects that were ill-advised and re-focus his board on crucial flood control and hurricane protection missions. Over the years, the Levee Board was known for expensive boondoggles such as a fiber-optic network, marinas, casinos, an airport expansion, administrative buildings, road construction and the like, but it was not known for outstanding maintenance of the levees.

In one case, Nungesser wanted to stop a $9.8 million road project near South Shore Harbor, which supposedly was designed to reduce traffic, but, in reality,was just a scheme to allow gamblers easier access to the Levee Board’s riverboat casino, operated by Bally’s. It made no sense for the Levee Board to be spending so much money on this project, because if it was really needed it would have been built by either local or state government. However, construction companies like Boh Brothers pushed for the project as did others who believed that it was “good for the economy.” Very few had the wisdom like Nungesser to see that all of these efforts were a diversion from the only work that the Levee Board was ever mandated to accomplish and that was the maintenance of levees protecting a city that dangerously rests several feet below sea level.

Maybe New Orleans was able to delude itself because it had not been hit by a hurricane since Betsy in 1965. Or maybe citizens were just accustomed to political corruption and did not bother with the exploits of the Levee Board. Either way, it was a sad commentary on Louisiana politics that the prophetic Nungesser was vilified and eventually dismissed from his position on the Orleans Parish Levee Board. Very few stepped forward to congratulate Nungesser and most wanted him to stop making so much commotion so the reckless and non-germane projects could continue. Remember, it was “good for the economy.” Now that we look back, nothing could have been better for the economy than first class levees that protected the citizens of New Orleans.

Nungesser was appointed by former Governor Mike Foster. Unfortunately Foster did not support Nungesser when the usual political cronies attacked him. Ironically, Foster often claimed that he wanted to eliminate all local levee boards and create one statewide board. Many times Foster grumbled that the Orleans Parish Levee Board created too many problems for him and gave him more headaches than anything else in state government. Eliminating the board would have been an awesome idea. Obviously it would have reduced patronage and corruption and led to fewer problems for Foster. In addition, a statewide professional board might have focused scarce dollars on vital flood control projects, which undoubtedly would have given greater protection to the people of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Unfortunately, Foster did nothing, allowing Nungesser to be dismissed and the antics at the Orleans Parish Levee Board to continue. According to former Levee Board executive Vincent Bruno, Foster’s Deputy Chief Staff Terry Ryder claimed that the Governor could not make the necessary changes at the Levee Board because of the political power of State Senator Francis Heitmeier, who “controlled seven votes in the Senate.” Therefore, Foster, like every previous governor,tragically allowed politics to supersede the safety of the citizens of New Orleans.

The citizens of New Orleans could have been spared much heartache and misery if only people would have listened to Billy Nungesser. In hindsight, it now looks like one of the worst mistakes ever made in Louisiana history

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:30 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com.

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