> The failure of the dikes after the passing of the hurricane and storm surge will amount to one of the biggest boondoggles in history.
You don't seem to appreciate the amount of potential energy that floodwaters possess. To me, this is like the people walking around Hiroshima after the bomb. Walking dead... yeah, they survived, but would certainly die within the week. Same way with the dikes, if you ask me. They survived Monday's onslaught, but the waters had to go somewhere, and the lowest ground is New Orleans.
> You have no idea what this 9' of water will cost us in the next 48 hrs - in $ and lives.
I know as well as you what it will cost us. A sizable fraction of 9/11 costs in dollars, and a sizeable fraction of 9/11 cost in lives. Neither of which can compare to the Chernobyl disaster... unless you're a communist government that doesn't give a rat's arse about your people's health and welfare.
I think you might end up reversing the numerator and the denominator in both dollars and lives.
"You don't seem to appreciate the amount of potential energy that floodwaters possess."
So, the engineers didn't? Yes, things happen. the story will turn out I believe resources weren't devoted to the levees soon enough.
"I know as well as you what it will cost us. A sizable fraction of 9/11 costs in dollars, and a sizeable fraction of 9/11 cost in lives."
To be kind, you're not an insurance adjuster... much bigger than 9/11.
The damage here will FAR SURPASS the cost of 9/11 - both in lives and $