New Orleans has messages for us

We're in New Orleans; Rebecca talks about torture at Loyola University law school today.



Our kind host here, whose neighborhood was under 8 feet of water nine years ago during what locals call "the storm" (Hurricane Katrina) urged me to look at and listen to the good folks at Levees.org. They present a warning to many of us: the kind of flooding we associate with this city could happen in many places.

Fifty five percent (55%) of the U.S. population lives in counties protected by levees. This represents 157 million people.

Not to go all apocalyptic, but this could happen a lot more places than we realize. In California, the Sacramento river delta is at particular risk.

We are told citizen activism has reached new peaks since the storm; in multiple ways, people work to protect communities and to demand that the political structure serve that end.

Climate change probably makes such climate disasters more likely. Just saying ...