FEMA

Lessons of the West Explosion: Government Regulation Bad; Government Money Good

All I want is to connect the dots. You help me. Mayor Tommy Muska, whose town of West just suffered what has been called the worst industrial accident in the 15-year history of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, is on the front page of The New York Times today agreeing with Governor Oops that governme ... More >>

The Power of Lobbying: Trinity Levees Are Unsafe SUPER Safe, the Corps Says Now

OK, wait, wait, before we start the party, can I ask a couple questions? Could we maybe just try to put ourselves in a global context first? In July, 2011, the city of Copenhagen was ravaged by the worst flood in recorded history, rated by scientists as a "1,000-year" flood, meaning it could be ex ... More >>

Who's Guarding the County's Guardians?

Dallas County appointed a hate-group found to a homeland security committee. Feel safe yet?

Trinity Levees: Will the Feds' Money Crunch Leave Us Low and Wet?

​Am I in the happy-news business? Does a bear use air freshener in the woods? Look, I'm just bringing it to you like it is. As bad as the situation with the Trinity River levees may look locally, you should see what it looks like when you put it in perspective with national levee problems. We ... More >>

Take Time to Study Corps of Engineers' Massive Dallas Floodway Environmental Assessment

Click to enlarge this cross-section of the cutoff wall -- seen in this appendix -- the city and HNTB say will bring the levees back to acceptable.​Schutze's must-read of the winter has finally arrived: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Dallas Floodway Environmental Assessment, in which we finally ... More >>

Between the Lines in Corps' Trinity River Enviromental Assessment: Don't Blame Us

​Buried between the lines in a 246-page document released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today is a significant national story about the future of flood control in American cities. I doubt very many reporters will dig it out. I'll give you the thumbnail sketch. You may wish I had kept my ... More >>

Fixing the Trinity Levees: Don't Worry, Just Trust City Hall

Deep Into the Corps: Agency's Own Leaky Docs Express Doubts About City's Levee Fixes

​On November 10 I wrote a column for the paper about documents leaked to me from within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicating that the corps has no faith in repairs to the Trinity River levees being proposed by the City of Dallas. I can show the documents to you now. They tell quite a st ... More >>

Dear Corps of Engineers: Save the Fancy Talk and Just Tell Us If We Should Build an Ark

​All right, class, today our lesson is: "Logical Wormholes and Semantic Corkscrews: Translating the Language of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Into More or Less Plain English, or, You Know, Spanish. Whatever. Language How People Talk." But first an ironclad guarantee. This is not a homework ... More >>

Dave Neumann's Positively Glowing Trinity River Corridor Project Update

The proposed Margaret McDermott Bridge, about which city and TxDOT officials have differing views​As we mentioned below, city and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials have called a 1:30 p.m. press conference to announce that more than likely, the Corps will sooner than later sign off on plans to ... More >>

Trinity Levee Repairs on Track to Beat FEMA's Deadline, But Corps Stresses Approval "Cannot Be Guaranteed"

Photos by Sam MertenTrinity Trust Foundation chair Margaret McDermott Cook says Dallasites will be running from her as fund-raising for the Trinity project resumes.​It was all smiles and back-slapping this afternoon as the city, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Trinity River Corridor Project p ... More >>

Wait a Sec. There's Something Wrong With the Levees? Somebody Tell Carolyn Davis ASAP!

Photo by Sam MertenThe six-headed Trinity monster (from left to right): Jill Jordan, Kelly High, Rebecca Rasor, Liz Fernandez, Col. R.J. Muraski and Kevin Craig​If little else, attending Trinity River Corridor Project Committee meetings is a constant reminder of the jaw-dropping ignorance of c ... More >>

It Took a Football Game, But Oncor's Turned On All the Lights On Commerce Street Bridge

Red Oak Kid​Ashley Burton, an Oncor spokesperson, just called with the news: "All of those lights on the Commerce Street viaduct have been repaired and turned on.  I just spoke with someone who was out there to check last night, and they're energized and turned on."Me too, Ashley. After all, ... More >>

Sneak a Peek at the Flood Map Presentation Being Given to Trinity River Property Owners

​As you may recall, the city sent word last month that it needed to meet with Trinity River property owners to discuss those revised Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps, due to debut in February before the final ones are drawn up in December 2011 and go into effect in June 2012. West-si ... More >>

What This Town Needs is Some Good Ward Heelers.

Dallas City Fathers And The Army Corps Of Engineers Don't Speak The Same Language When It Comes To the Levees.

The City's Set to Meet With Trinity River Property Owners About FEMA's Flood Maps

This is the picture of the Trinity the city included in its FEMA floodplain remapping postcard.​Last week, Jim and Sam wrote all about how City Hall's done fed up to here with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and their demands that Dallas repair the hell out the Trinity River levees before they ge ... More >>

Take a Dip in the Trinity, Dry Off in Downtown

​Where to begin, where to begin as we sneak peek the council's week ahead? Perhaps at Jim's favorite destination -- the shores of the Trinity River. Tomorrow's meeting of the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee looks to be the most interesting in a long while, as the council starts adding up ... More >>

Is It Finally Curtains for the Trinity River Project?

Why's Leppert So Pissed Off at the Corps of Engineers? Because He Can't Handle the Truth.

​O.K., I've been laughing up my sleeve over the mayor's whining remarks last week, complaining that certain unnamed "federal partners" aren't being very nice to him. Hanging around City hall last week for various dumb events, I was able to chat up a couple of people who are keeping quite close ta ... More >>

Yes, It'll Cost $150 Million to Fix the Levees. But How Much to Turn Riverfront Boulevard Into a "Complete Street"?

Click to expand: No doubt these are older renderings included with next week's briefing -- note the dead minor-league ballpark and the use of "Industrial"​I'll leave it to Dr. James IIsaac Bashevis Levee Singer Schutze to parse through Mary Suhm's 88-page Dallas Floodway System Update Briefing pre ... More >>

I Don't Know When It Became My Job to Tell You When You're Screwed ...

​I'm getting a a lot of e-mail from people who want to know how to look up their property on the FEMA flood risk maps to see if they are exposed to flooding since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has declared the city's Trinity River levee system unsafe. I'll try to help, but let me say something ... More >>

Dallas May Get Soaked by Soaring Insurance Premiums if the City Keeps Dawdling on Fixing the Levees

Premium Content: While We Argue Over a Word, a Risk Still Runs Through the City

George Gimarc sent us this photo. Taken in April 1957.​Got a little e-mail debate going with Frank Librio, the spokesman for the city of Dallas, which I thought I should share with the Friends of Unfair Park. Always good to get a second opinion. Maybe people will agree with Frank that I have been ... More >>

Among the Trinity Topics Before the Council, Pulling 2,800 Trees Out of Levees

Almost immediately after Schutze posted his wrap-up from the Monday-morning press conference at Dallas City Hall, where Mayor Tom Leppert drove his Chevy to the levees, a Friend of Unfair Park pointed our attention to Page 18 of the Trinity River Corridor Project briefing the city council will cover ... More >>

Blown Over: Galveston and Texas Gulf Coast Struggle After Hurricane Ike

Forgotten and overlooked, Galveston residents try to put the pieces back together

Girl Drink Drunk: Double Wide’s Hurritang

Texas Rangers Will Try to Brighten Day of Kids Still Living at Convention Center

Gustav Isn't Screwing Around, and Neither is the City of Dallas

Always Be Prepared

You Can't Go Home Again

It's Official: We're a "Major Disaster"

Best Press Release Ever

A Broken FEMA (Yes, Again)

Low standards

Who comes to visit when you dial 911?

When Evacuees Become Residents, Part 3

When Evacuees Become Residents

FEMA Extends Deadline

Who'll Pay the Rent?

Help Wanted

Juvenile

Reality Check (Atlantic)

Keep it

Chug that Mad Dog before FEMA comes a-knockin'

This Blows, Like a Hurricane

Laissez les bon temps rouler

Buzz looks for love in all the wrong places

Long Road Home

Canvas the Theater

Hotel Katrina

While the feds fumble, hurricane survivors find relief thanks to a Dallas hotel owner and friends

Thanks, But No Thanks

Plus: The Dallas Crown Affair

Fresh Fruit

Boustani imports Moroccan flavors

Flood Blood

Politicians create flooding, not the Bible