Exposing the Lies: The Hidden Truth Behind Hurricane Katrina with Sandy Rosenthal

My guest today is Sandy Rosenthal. After the near-destruction of New Orleans in 2005 while most were satisfied with the official narrative of "natural disaster", Sandy Rosenthal believed there was more to the story. It turned out there was. Rosenthal led an investigative team via the New Orleans-based group she founded––Levees.org––and discovered the real cause of the devastation: Faulty engineering which resulted in the death of at nearly 1,400 and $200 billion in property damage and business losses, not "Mother Nature." In a classic tale of "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win", the Levees.org team succeeded not only in exposing the details of the failure, but also uncovering a multi-million dollar smear campaign––against the people of New Orleans, Levees.org and Sandy herself––funded with U.S. taxpayer dollars. By 2015, the news media, which had upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' version of events, finally capitulated, and major news outlets like the Associated Press, New York Times and the BBC, officially changed their version of events to reflect the reality.

Rosenthal's book "Words Whispered in Water" which documents this story is her first book. Levees.org exists to make sure the U.S Army Corps of Engineers is held accountable in New Orleans and throughout the U.S. where the lives and property of 201 million Americans depend on the integrity of their levees.. In this episode we discuss Hurricane Katrina, advocacy work, government failures and injustices.

Website - https://levees.org/bio-sandy-rosenthal-founder-of-levees-org/

IG - https://www.instagram.com/leveesorg/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosenthalsandy/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Sandy_Rosenthal

Sandy's Book - https://www.amazon.com/Words-Whispered-Water-Government-Corruption-ebook/dp/B096GVDD88?ref_=ast_author_mpb

In this episode you will learn:

1. Change is possible when you stand up for and fight for what you believe in.

2.What the power and impact of truth is.

3. The importance of activism and how it can mobilize a community.

 

“We were being blamed. The victims of this horrific flooding, this was no minor disaster. This was a bona fide catastrophe. Nearly 1,400 people died within a few hours.” - 00:04:38

“Right after the flooding of New Orleans, I had a lot of reporters and journalists call me or email me and ask me, Okay, talk to me about how the poorer communities, the marginalized communities, talk to me about how their levies weren't as good as the wealthy people." 00:33:25

“Don't be afraid. Don't worry that someone might not like what you're saying, because if it's not one person, it'd just be somebody else.” 00:58:23

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