Posted on 09/02/2005 9:42:06 AM PDT by Lunatic Fringe
Early questions were raised about proper funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of many hurricane-protection programs across the United States. Some early claims blamed President Bush for cutbacks in funding, but corps officials stated that a decrease in funding was not to blame.
The levees themselves were only designed to protect New Orleans from a Category 3 hurricane and that this decision was made by the corps decades ago "based on a cost-benefit analysis." Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, chief of engineers of the corps was quoted as saying, "I don't see that the level of funding was really a contributing factor in this case. Had this project been fully complete, it is my opinion that based on the intensity of this storm that the flooding of the business district and the French Quarter would have still taken place."
Strock, the Corps' chief of engineers, told reporters that the Iraq war did not have a major impact on the agency's budget.
"We were just caught by a storm of an intensity which exceeded the design of the project we have in place," he said during a conference call.
That won't stop the Rats.
See this:
Corps Officials Say New Orleans' Flood Walls Were in Good Condition
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1475679/posts
"The levee breaches occurred in areas that were "in excellent condition" before the storm and were inspected, said Naomi. He said there was nothing the Corps could have done involving the completed floodwalls that could have prevented the breaches."
It's Bush's fault!
Isn't it?
Do you honestly think that the Anti-Bush mob is going to believe this?
I ain't holding my breath on it.
How come there are no names attached to the decision made to only build for a Cat 3? What did they think would happen in a Cat 4 or 5?
Nope...Truth and/or the Facts never do. :/
Exactly...the hate over at the DUmp is palpable! God help me, I wish the 1800s "Code Duelo" were back in style 'cause I would love to meet one of their posters on a field at sunrise...and baring that, I would settle for a back alley!
If I was a DUmmie:
"D*mn you Bush for not getting a time machine and reversing that decision!!! REVOLUTION, REVOLUTION, REVOLUTION!!!!
In a related story, engineers say the Titanic is unsinkable.
2 excellent Christian relief organizations:
Southern Baptist's NAMB: http://www.namb.net/
Samaritan's Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
Don't know what they did think, but one thing we know they did not think, was to use the school buses and force mandatory evacuation prior to the CAT 4/5 hurricane coming at their cat 3 max levees.
ping*
I agree. I think that the local leaders in NOLA are going to have a lot of explaining to do.
I can hear it now. "It's Reagans fault."
Naw, they are all Democrats. Democrats never have to explain any of their actions.
People don't usually understand that you can't protect everything. The more resources you pour into protecting one point to the maximum extent, the less is available for providing minimal protection for everywhere else.
I'm not an engineer, but I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of building to a Category 5 is at least an order of magnitude greater than building to a Category 3.
A cost-benefit analysis? Somewhere in there, the probability of a Cat 3 or higher must have been factored in. I cannot believe a probablilstic risk assessment did not dictate a more robust design. If the PRA hasn't been updated with more recent information (like the consequences of a failure, which increased with increasing NO infrastructure), then that would be criminal IMHO. Anyway, this is just getting weirder and weirder.
Do you have a link for this?
I kinda was exposed to this when I lived in the Davenport Iowa area. The City was convinced that having an open shore with the Missisippi River was part of the unique charm of the area. Therefore, they were one of the only cities along the river to have no levee system. So every few years, the city was underwater, but in the long run, people were convinced that the benefit of no levees was worth the cost of no levees. I believe (SWAG)the cost of upgrading a Cat 3 levee to a Cat 5 levee might be closer to two orders of magnitude more expensive...but not nearly as expensive as rebuilding the whole damned city of New Orleans. The walls would have to be many feet higher, which would be a real eyesore to New Orleans. I am convinced that this is what will happen...the city will be rebuilt, the levees upgraded, and in a few years, things will be nearly back to normal in the Big Easy.
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