On Friday, MSNBC's “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough accused the government of “completely failing” to protect Los Angeles residents' homes from this week's wildfires.
“Happy Friday, if you can say that in the hellscape of Los Angeles,” Scarborough said. Because of the proximity to where I lived in Pensacola, Florida, I spent every day in Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina. I have to say there are a lot of similarities here. During Katrina, levees that were part of the city's hurricane protection program failed, causing widespread flooding. Budget cuts and subsequent delays meant the project was only 60 to 90 percent complete. ”
He added: “We don't know the exact cause of the government's complete failure to protect these homes. I don't think it's just smelt. We don't know what it is. But Hurricane Katrina I think the situation might be like this. So it's no exaggeration to say it's Karen Bass. It's been a trend for 30 years. Disrupted. Climate change has occurred. It's like they're fighting the last war. But the longer I get into this issue, the more I think about how New Orleans is doing. Did they not invest in the levee system? I think more and more about how we didn't invest in infrastructure and people died because of it.People who live in one of the wealthiest cities in the world are saying, “Oh, I have enough to protect my home.'' It's very painful to hear people say, 'We don't have enough water.'
Mr Scarborough added: Urban sprawl is increasing, and people are moving neighborhoods to places where none existed before. Areas where wildfires are more common than urban fires. Then there's climate change. Given all this, it follows that there are communities, perhaps municipalities, that have failed to respond to the reality of dramatic fundamental change. As with New Orleans' 9th Ward, this should be a very belated wake-up call to politicians, local politicians, and state politicians across the country, not just Los Angeles and California. You have to fight new battles. Urban sprawl, climate change, people moving into flood zones, people moving into wildfire zones will give something. That happened with Katrina. It happened here. ”
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