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Experts Say Faulty Levees Caused Much of Flooding
Washington Post ^ | Sept. 21, 2005 | Michael Grunwald and Susan B. Glasser

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: army; cary; construction; corps; engineers; floodwalls; katrina; levees
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To: El Gato
The article clearly states that the water did not get above the level for which the levees were designed,

What about the wind? Cat4-5

41 posted on 09/21/2005 12:17:18 AM PDT by Echo Talon (http://echotalon.blogspot.com)
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To: CobaltBlue
Yeah, no doubt the levee was faulty, After all it is under the control of the local Levee Board.

However this image:

showing the deck lifted completely off I10 where it crosses Lake would seem to suggest a massive surge hit this part of the lake - That's not wind damage.

Anything large enough to take that deck off would easily top the levee.

42 posted on 09/21/2005 12:17:57 AM PDT by konaice
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To: TypeZoNegative

No Banana Slug Hunters!


43 posted on 09/21/2005 12:18:22 AM PDT by oceanperch (If I am here it means I over did it on the hill hike today and my feet are to sore to stand)
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To: CobaltBlue
You hate lawyers who represent injured people?

No, I hate lawyers who say things like:

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.

44 posted on 09/21/2005 12:19:00 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: Howlin

Well, there's no point suing someone who doesn't have any money, even if they are at fault.

That's the way the system works.

If the defendant can't pay, the only person who will sue them (usually) is the government, and in this case, the government isn't going to sue itself.


45 posted on 09/21/2005 12:19:02 AM PDT by CobaltBlue (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.)
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To: CobaltBlue
Even though the people who injured them were negligent? And they were injured through no fault of their own?

You're getting ahead of yourself there, aren't you, Counselor?

You're drooling.

46 posted on 09/21/2005 12:19:59 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: CobaltBlue

Wuz thinking the same thing.


47 posted on 09/21/2005 12:20:33 AM PDT by dennisw (If you can serve a cup of tea right, you can do anything - Gurdjieff)
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To: Howlin

I am not ashamed of making money for my clients.

And they are certainly not ashamed to take it.


48 posted on 09/21/2005 12:20:41 AM PDT by CobaltBlue (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.)
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To: CobaltBlue
That's the way the system works.

No, that's the way sleazy lawyers WORK the system.

You're no better than John Edwards; will you be channeling anybody during your summation to the jury? (Because I know you WILL have a jury -- what better way to sucker the government than to let a jury who STANDS TO GAIN decide, huh?)

49 posted on 09/21/2005 12:21:35 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: CobaltBlue

The govt. will say "act of god" and your law suit will be gone.


50 posted on 09/21/2005 12:21:45 AM PDT by Echo Talon (http://echotalon.blogspot.com)
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To: CobaltBlue
And they are certainly not ashamed to take it.

LOL......you're talking about the people of NO who didn't even have the brains or wherewithall to hold themselves together for THREE WHOLE DAYS?

51 posted on 09/21/2005 12:22:31 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: CobaltBlue
Yeah, the lack of erosion is real interesting.

No erosion indeed..

How the hell would they know that, its not even dry there yet.

52 posted on 09/21/2005 12:22:52 AM PDT by konaice
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To: Howlin

Why does it bother you that some people have jobs that pay well, and at the same time, do good for others?


53 posted on 09/21/2005 12:22:52 AM PDT by CobaltBlue (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.)
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To: Echo Talon

Precisely.

Victims who had to KNOW that they lived in danger? I think not.


54 posted on 09/21/2005 12:23:17 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: Echo Talon
The govt. will say "act of god" and your law suit will be gone.

A hurricane is an Act of God.

But an improperly constructed floodwall is not an Act of God, it is an act of man.

55 posted on 09/21/2005 12:24:02 AM PDT by CobaltBlue (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.)
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To: CobaltBlue
Why does it bother you that some people have jobs that pay well, and at the same time, do good for others?

But I thought you said you did it for free?

LOL @ the "doing good for others" remark.

BTW, you're changing the subject here from me to you.

56 posted on 09/21/2005 12:25:41 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: Howlin

er......from you to me.


57 posted on 09/21/2005 12:26:27 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: CobaltBlue
But an improperly constructed floodwall is not an Act of God, it is an act of man.

Now your an engineer...

58 posted on 09/21/2005 12:26:36 AM PDT by Echo Talon (http://echotalon.blogspot.com)
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To: Howlin

Sure, I do pro bono. But I don't do pro bono all the time.

When there's money to be made, I don't turn it down.


59 posted on 09/21/2005 12:26:41 AM PDT by CobaltBlue (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.)
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To: CobaltBlue
A hurricane is an Act of God.

But an improperly constructed floodwall is not an Act of God, it is an act of man.

God trumps Man. Case dismissed.

60 posted on 09/21/2005 12:26:42 AM PDT by konaice
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