GRETNA — Rather than send pump workers 100 miles north of the city when a hurricane threatens, Jefferson Parish will build 20 "safe houses" to ensure that pumps can be started quickly in case of floods, Parish President Aaron Broussard said.
When Hurricane Katrina struck, Broussard sent 236 pump workers to Washington Parish under the "Doomsday […]
From this:
When the 17th Street Canal levee crumbled, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard couldn't go to the Home Depot to buy materials to staunch the flood encroaching from New Orleans. What he could do, under the sweeping emergency authority provided by state law, was raid the Lafarge Construction Materials plant at 3320 Airline Drive for […]
From this:
As controversy continues to churn about Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard's decision to evacuate more than 200 pump station workers the day before Hurricane Katrina, officials in New Orleans are vowing to take a hard look at their decision to require pump station workers to staff their posts, an order that endangered the lives […]
From Pump workers say they wanted to stay:
Even as they followed orders to abandon their stations before Hurricane Katrina slashed ashore, some of Jefferson Parish's pump operators asked why they couldn't stay.
Why couldn't some volunteers, possibly as many as 30 workers on the West Bank alone, ride out the hurricane in a parish building, they […]
From this:
Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard said Friday he is moving to sack the head of the East Jefferson Levee District, who publicly questioned the Broussard administration's decision to evacuate drainage pump workers as Hurricane Katrina hurtled towards the Gulf Coast.
Broussard sent a letter asking Gov. Kathleen Blanco to remove Patrick Bossetta as Levee Board […]
From this:
A frustrated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned Thursday that it would be in the state's best interest to help the Crescent City jump-start its Hurricane Katrina-riddled economy, saying the impact on the state — if nothing is done — will pale in comparison to the layoffs the city recently announced.
"You think 3,000 layoffs […]
As previously discussed, Aaron Broussard sent the Jefferson Parish pump operators out of harm's way because their stations weren't built to withstand such storms. However, as also discussed, he seems to have sent them a bit too far, as the Times-Pic says in "The pump debacle":
…Mr. Broussard's concern for public employees' welfare is understandable. Existing […]
As previously discussed, Aaron Broussard evacuated the Jefferson Parish pump operators.
If "Jeff pump operators gone 24 hours" is to be believed, he might have been right in at least sending them out of harm's way, although whether he could have put them somewhere where they could have been brought them back sooner seems like a […]
This report contains this unconfirmed bit:
…Eastern Jefferson parish, the most highly populated area which sits next to New Orleans, consists mostly of reclaimed marsh and swamp. A series of drainage canals criss-cross the parish. These end at huge pumping stations (18 of them, costing tens of millions of dollars) that pump out rainwater from the […]
Aaron Broussard is probably destined for bigger things, since he's apparently got that old Clintonesque touch. He appeared on Meet the Press earlier today and Tim Russert (VRWC #23) grilled him on his emotional appearance from three weeks back. As it turns out, a blogger had questions about his statements at that time, which MSNBC […]
