Marking three months since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and coastal Louisiana, community leaders gathered at the London Avenue Canal levee breach in New Orleans this afternoon to call for an immediate federal commitment to effective storm protection for New Orleans and southern Louisiana.

"At the heart of the revitalization effort and at the heart of the federal responsibility is a commitment to two things," said Mark Davis of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. "Honest and effective storm protection for New Orleans and other population centers and coastal restoration and conservation."

"The time for federal action and commitment is now," said Aaron Viles with the Gulf Restoration Network.

"Once our immediate human suffering abated, so, too, did the national media attention to our plight as well as Washington’s sense of urgency to address it," Viles said. "That’s why we’ve launched an effort to encourage 300,000 comments to Washington and the White House. We need to remind them through one comment for every displaced Louisianan."

The task forces, commissions and community meetings will be meaningless without a safe levee system because few will return without one, organizers said.

"Louisiana is developing rebuilding plans and ideas – all of this relies on people feeling safe," said Casey Roberts, a New Orleans native and Sierra Club local leader. "Local communities can’t rebuild the levees or restore the coast on their own. We need a federal commitment."

Each day that passes without a commitment to the survival of New Orleans prolongs this tragedy, organizers said.

To send a message to Washington, visit http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/GRN/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1521