[SuziQ]

Just another kook conspiracy story. The degradation of the levee happened over an area almost 200' long. It was also in the area where it had been most recently strengthened. That tells me that the job done 'fixing' the levee made the problem worse.

Any sort of explosive would have caused a catastrophic failure with a hugh gush of water all at once, and that didn't happen. It seems as though it started leaking from below, then collapsed up on itself along that almost 200' stretch of wall.

[El Gato]

Any sort of explosive would have caused a catastrophic failure with a hugh gush of water all at once, and that didn't happen.

Not necessarily. It could have been a series of small charges, or even only one, that weakened the levee in a single spot (for each break) the water pressure would do the rest. Such an explosion might not even be noticeable on the surface, if it was buried deeply enough in the levee.

However I agree that the chances of finding any explosive residue after all that water rushed by, would be nil.

[RobbyS]

On "Nightline" a resident on the dry side offered his opinion that the mode of construction was wrong, that during previous high water episodes there had been erosion along the base. May be. One thing is for sure: The Corps of Engineers is going to have to go back to the drawing board.