River towns in danger
Item # 347,568: Paying for the Bush tax cuts and the Iraq War
Now they have come for the flood forecasting system that protects river towns along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.
The Patriot-News reports today that the satellite link which enables river forecasters to provide real time forecasts on flooding threats will go dark on Oct. 1 unless Congress acts.
Residents of my neighborhood along the Susquehanna, Shipoke, depend on the flood forecasting system to know whether a rise in the river is just a temporary blip--as it is, 95 percent of the time--or a threat to our homes that requires us to move our furniture and possessions to upper floors or onto sawhorses--hours and hours of backbreaking work.
Turning off this vital satellite link to save money is about as stupid as it would be to shut off the NORAD radar that scans the skies looking for incoming nuclear missiles. Whichever officials of the Army Corps of Engineers made this reckless decision should be fired. One has to wonder if the "decider" was some Bush religious zealot who believes floods are God's will and people must accept them.
And where were our river Congressmen, Todd Platts, Tim Holden, and Paul Kanjorski when this was being decided? Or our senators, Arlen Specter and Bob Casey? The satellite doesn't go dark until Oct. 1. They have about a week to undo the damage.