Gotta love irony.
According to the Bayou Buzz:
United States Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., today announced that Louisiana will receive an investment of approximately $500,000 Recovery Act dollars from the Department of Interior to fund U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) projects. The Interior Department will spend $140 million nationwide on this first group of USGS projects to monitor volcanoes and earthquakes, upgrade flood monitoring technology and perform critical maintenance projects. Louisiana’s investment will be used for upgrades to streamgages used in flood monitoring, water program maintenance and facility maintenance.
Does this sound familiar? It should, because it’s the same part of the Stimulus Package that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal derided as being wasteful. Since Jindal’s very televised commentary, Mt Redoubt in Alaska has been erupting and a major earthquake in Italy has taken a disastrous toll on human life and property. The point of USGS monitoring is to reduce the impact of natural disasters. That includes flooding in Louisiana,
At of this posting, the BayouBuzz reports that, “the Governor has not stated whether he would not accept the monitoring system.”
Part of the system that would benefit Louisiana includes upgrades to solar-powered streamgages for real-time flood monitoring that are critical in advanced warning and search-and-rescue operations. Existing streamgages were invaluable during the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to locate survivors in the worst flooded areas.
Sources:
BayouBuzz
Huffington Post
Related t-shirt of the day:
CSI (Continental Shelf Investigation) t-shirt
