Experts blame flooding on faulty levees (blames federal government)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9419053/

NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana's top hurricane experts have rejected the official explanations for the floodwall collapses that inundated much of New Orleans, concluding that Hurricane Katrina's storm surges were much smaller than authorities have suggested and that the city's flood-protection system should have kept most of the city dry.

snip

But with the help of complex computer models and stark visual evidence, scientists and engineers at Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center have concluded that Katrina's surges did not come close to overtopping those barriers. That would make faulty design, inadequate construction or some combination of the two the likely cause of the breaching of the floodwalls along the 17th Street and London Avenue canals — and the flooding of most of New Orleans.

(note: this does not include the Industrial Seaway breech, which they agree was caused by overtopping.)

"This should not have been a big deal for these floodwalls," said oceanographer G. Paul Kemp, a hurricane expert who runs LSU's Natural Systems Modeling Laboratory. "It should have been a modest challenge. There's no way this should have exceeded the capacity."

snip

"If this is true, then the loss of life and the devastation in much of New Orleans is no more a natural disaster than a surgeon killing a patient by failing to suture an artery would be a natural death," Barry said. "And that surgeon would be culpable."

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The last paragraph is about the long-term failure to fix the levees, not just the last few years under Bush.

Read the whole thing. It's... It's something.

responsible for the design and the actual construction was contracted out? I thought the Corp did their own work - maybe not.

the poor side of the levees were built with shoddy materials and bad workmanship. I heard one man on WWL radio on the Friday after the storm who called in randomly. He had been responsible for several rescues in his boat, including one of the televised ones. He said he had lived around that levy his whole life, and believed it was built poorly. He implied they shortchanged the construction and maintenance because it protected a poor black neighborhood. He was white, for the record.

I also saw a television interview with residents on the other side of the 17th street canal who said the same thing. They pointed out that their levy had held, but the other one, which wasn't as new or well constructed as theirs, failed.

The Army Corp of Engineers specifically rejected claims that Bush's spending cuts and previous rejected bills had caused this levee to break, saying it was maintained and up to standards, and was not even on the list for improvements that were cut out. They swore, shortly after Katrina, that the levee had been inspected and was sound, and that it had been overwhelmed by a catastrophic surge that topped it and undermined it.

This new report says that's not true.

But I doubt it!

The story that they were blown will persist, though, unless someone proves why they failed.

is located in a white part of NOLA and Jefferson/Metararie.

The other canals weren't, but the West-End Harbor area is traditionally a white middle class neighborhood. In the last few years, its gotten more expensive, but houses are still generally under 300k.

that the Jefferson Parrish side was middle class, and the NOLA side was a poor district. I misunderstood.

van Heerden is likely telling the truth...However he is not allowed to go far enough, because he still has to partially cover.
But he is telling us to read between the lines.

Here's what I believe happened.

The 17th street breach was the castastrophic cause of the unprecedented flooding in areas that have never before flooded.
So we must hone in on that sector.

to illustrate, view this (Pic#5) Buck Town bridge

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/popup/nolalevees_jpg.html

OK there's a few things I want you to notice in that pic.
First, see that building with the red roof. Well , that is the Coast guard station/ Homeland security headquarters. I'll get back to that later.

Second, see all those shrimp boats that line the mouth of the canal. keep those in mind. We'll get back to those as well.
There is a yatch harbor and restaurants in that area also.
The mouth that abutts lake Pontchartrain is just off the photo to the right. The shrimp boats are on the north side of the Buck Town bridge.

So I hope you are all oriented properly

Now, next order of business.
See the diagram....you'll notice that NOLA sits in a bowl.
When it rains, and every time it rains. Here is the procedure.
There are giant pump station that get switched on. They take water from the bottom of the bowl and lift it up , then deposit their payload into these drainage canals , of which, the 17th street Canal is the one we're interested in.
The pump station has enormous capacity.
Remember that, it is an important part of the equation.

So, to be clear...the 17th canal is not for barge traffic.
It is solely for drainage of NOLA into Lake Pontchartrain.

note: The mouth of the 17th canal now has a steel curtain across it that they've been splashing all over the news.

Now, I want you to take a look at google maps.
http://maps.google.com /
in order to show the precise images of what happened. Using the search function on that site, type in “Drifter Lane New Orleans” to get an overview of the neighborhood in which the destruction took place. Then click on “satellite” once the image comes on the monitor. This will give the satellite overview of the neighborhood. Using the “zoom” function, zoom in to get a closer look. Then click on “Katrina” to get a satellite picture of the neighborhood after the hurricane wreaked its havoc. The dam caused by the wreckage of the buildings and boats clearly visible in the satellite picture taken before the storm is very evident. The breach in the 17th Street Canal is clearly visible in the “Katrina” picture as well.

When the canal became blocked, that enormous inflow of water caused the sluiceway’s levee to break, flooding the city.

Even though the HS center was within 200 yards and there are about 8 cop cars on scene( see katrina on google maps page)
They never notified the pumps to shut down???

Explosives may have been used to try to clear the dam.

Whatever the case...we're not getting the whole story.
listen to Ed Haslam-
www.spitfirelist.com/mp3/F_526a.mp3
www.spitfirelist.com/mp3/F_526b.mp3