There were so many problems occurring simultaneously that its virtually impossible to sort out what by your definition might be classified as catastrophic flooding as opposed to some local garden variety flooding. The levee along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet was completely wiped out. The I-wall along the Industrial Canal, the South Breach and the East Bank were overtopped and obliterated
did that occur strictly due to the overtopping per se? Or did it happen because of the poor design of the I-wall which even if overtopped didnt necessarily have to collapse i.e. if youve read the reports you know that the water gap caused by the poor design of I-wall quickly caused a sliding soil condition and entire sections were simply shifted along to the point of destruction. And then as I mentioned earlier, there were walls that went down which were not overtopped at all. None of this really matters of course
.it all comes down to proper engineering design, selecting the right materials, making sure that everything was constructed properly and then inspected/maintained properly afterwards. Overall, it was an engineering failure pure and simple
many will blame corrupt politicians and deals that allowed substandard materials and methods to be used. None of this exonerates the engineers who put their licenses on the line and can always withdraw their services if asked to do something that compromises proper design.
I agree with what you write, as it aligns with the report. I’m curious to know if you toured the disaster zone. If you have, you would understand why I refer to the Lower 9th as a “catastrophe”. If memory serves me, the university staff that took us out described the “flood” as a wall of water 6 feet high moving at about 10 feet/sec in the Lower 9th Ward. I saw houses that were moved intact two blocks from their foundations, cars stacked one upon the other, and the area generally looked like a war zone.
Did the MRGO failure lead to flooding with the city proper, or mainly St. Bernard’s and Plaquemines parishes?