Posted on 09/20/2005 11:38:42 PM PDT by CobaltBlue
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.
With the help of computer models and visual evidence, scientists at Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center have concluded that Katrina's surges did not come close to overtopping those barriers.
* * * * Ivor van Heerden, the Hurricane Center's deputy director, said the real scandal of Katrina is the "catastrophic structural failure" of barriers that should have handled the hurricane with relative ease.
"We are absolutely convinced that those floodwalls were never overtopped," said van Heerden. * * * * Tuesday, researchers showed numerous indications that Katrina's surge was not as tall as the lakefront's protections. They showed a "debris line" that indicates the top height of Katrina's waves was at least four feet below the crest of Lake Pontchartrain's levees. They also pointed out how the breached floodwalls near the lake showed no signs of overtopping -- no splattering of mud, no drip lines and no erosion at their bases. They contended that the pattern of destruction behind the breaches was consistent with a localized "pressure burst," rather than widespread overtopping.
Their model indicates that most of the surge around the lake and its nearby canals was less than 11 feet above sea level, and that none of it should have been greater than 13 feet. The Army Corps's flood-protection system for New Orleans was designed to handle surges of more than 14 feet above sea level.
"This should not have been a big deal for these floodwalls," said oceanographer G. Paul Kemp. There's no way this should have exceeded the capacity."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Nam Vet
Actually, it's one pic. You're free to use it if you like for other message boards.
Well, I am a lawyer. ;^)
Take a look at the Federal Tort Claims Act. It's a waiver of sovereign immunity when federal employees are negligent.
Oh, please. Save it for the courtroom.
Yea, they were hit with a Cat4-Cat5... Only designed for Cat3... How can you sue them for that? What if they were designed for a Cat5 and they were hit by a Cat6?
Honestly, no. Not at all.
Gosh, you seem so happy to have somebody to sue!
Well, you were the one who asked, "what makes you think you can sue the federal government"?
Been there, done that, got the bucks to show for it.
Your tax dollars at work.
You don't like it, keep a better eye on them. Otherwise, it's my job to make them pay.
You're a prime example of why I quit court reporting.
I like helping people.
If it was you who lost everything because of a government screw-up, you'd be the first one in line looking for a lawyer, I guaran-damn-tee you.
I realize that you have to tell yourself crap like that to justify the way you make a living, but for those of us who have actually been involved in the legal profession for more than a year know that's a load of BS.
No its not. It's like someone getting hit in the chest by a .45, wearing what is supposed to be a level 3 vest, only to find that the protect it offered was only level 1, for one reason or another.
The article clearly states that the water did not get above the level for which the levees were designed, IE. they got hit by that .45 , not 7.62x51.
Oh, I guess helping innocent people get compensated when someone injured them is a bad thing?
If that's the way you think, good thing you found something else to do.
Not considering that those levees were mostly complete, and all were contracted for, before Bush ever became President.
No, dear, I love what I do. I do it for free, even, that's how much I love it.
Are you on the right forum?
If that's the way you think, good thing you found something else to do.
I don't need something else to do; I just quit doing it because I got sick to death of lawyers like you who make a mockery of the laws of this country.
I'd like to know how to govt. screwed up. By not designing the levee for a Cat5? Maybe you screwed up by choosing to live below sea level.
Then why did you feel compelled to post this garbage?
My brother, who is volunteering in New Orleans, called me earlier today to tell me that "rumor has it" that some big lawsuits were going to be filed against the Army Corps of Engineers, and I should get in on it. I didn't think too much of it until I read this article, but if the floodwalls really were improperly constructed, there's money in it for sure. With so much death and destruction, you know everybody is searching for a deep pocket, and it doesn't get any deeper than Uncle Sugar.
Some of us actually READ what other people post.
You hate lawyers who represent injured people?
Even though the people who injured them were negligent?
And they were injured through no fault of their own?
And you profess to love the legal system?
I think you might be confused. Like, really, really confused.
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