Dutch Treat

A Gret Stet delegation--including Gov. Blanco, and Sens. Landrieu and Vitter, are heading to Holland for some tips on flood control:

The governor was among more than 40 government, business and education leaders — including Sens. David Vitter and Mary Landrieu — who took the trip in hopes of learning how to create levees and floodgates strong enough to withstand a storm as large as or larger than Hurricane Katrina, which overwhelmed New Orleans' flood control system.

"What I'm gathering is that we have a lot to learn on how to make levees that hold up under difficult conditions," Blanco said. "I believe it will be a very valuable trip."

Landrieu, who organized the trip, said she spoke with the Dutch ambassador to the United States after Hurricane Katrina broke New Orleans' floodwalls and levees. Landrieu said the ambassador told her about that country's flood of 1953, when 1,800 people died.

"He said, `Why don't you all come over and see what we've done since then?'" Landrieu recounted.

Katrina has been blamed for more than 1,300 deaths, the vast majority of them in Louisiana.

Holland recently completed a 50-year program to build dams, seawalls, and surge barriers designed to protect the south of the country against almost any storm.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and others have questioned whether areas of Louisiana 3 to 5 feet below sea level should be rebuilt or returned to marshland. Landrieu said coastal areas of the Netherlands are 21 feet below sea level.

The article notes Blanco won't be here on Thursday, when Shrub is scheduled for yet another round of photo-opping in NOLA (no word on whether Landrieu or Vitter will be back).