Re: Is New Orleans finished ?

Winfield Hill wrote:
> Dirk Bruere at Neopax wrote...
> >
> > bill.sloman@xxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> >> New Orleans is fixable.
> >>
> >> Most of the western side of the Netherlans is below sea level, and a
> >> chunk of it flooded in 1953. They fixed the dykes and pumped the water
> >> out - so can you.
> >
> > How would Holland fare if subjected to huge hurricanes periodically?
>
> That's a good point, but so is Bill's point. New Orleans wasn't done
> in by the Hurricane, per se, but rather by a 20-foot-high storm surge
> in Lake Pontchartrain, and by a dike or levee that structurally failed,
> even tho the water was below its top. It's speculated that the levee's
> base failed. We need ways to test these issues. That's something the
> Dutch know a lot about, and we could learn from them. And if we do,
> perhaps we could save 100's of billions of dollars of property loss
> the next time. And, given Bush and our heavy oil-burning CO2 scene,
> there *will* be a next time. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
>
>
> --
> Thanks,
> - Win

I used to live immediately adjacent to one of the two levees
that failed. Perhaps a picture would be of interest:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.021358,-90.121815&spn=0.008772,0.014799&t=h&hl=en

The levee has failed at the Hammond Hwy. bridge. I used to run
along the levee path, past said bridge, cross a short field, and on
out to the end of Breakwater Drive, then back home.

The levee itself was not much more than a man-made hill of dirt.
It was reinforced a few years back by sheets of 1/4" (?) corrugated
steel, hammered in vertically to prevent seepage through the
earthen structure.

Nutria(*) were one of the big concerns--they dug large burrows
horizontally through the earthworks, making it easier for that
first (deadly) trickle of water to seep through the sodden ground.
Once you've got that first trickle, it quickly rips out a hole
and the thing fails catastrophically shortly thereafter.

The risk posed by hurricanes was scarcely secret--every year
or two the Times-Picayune, the local paper, would print a doomsday
spread / series informing everyone.

There wasn't much will to act--doubling the height of 400 miles
of levees is no mean feat. Plus, as you can see from the map,
there simply isn't room--the levees are lined with houses and
roads.

--James

(*) A non-native aquatic rodent, extremely prolific, with dense
fur, nasty teeth, and pretty tasty I'm told. They thrive in the
murky waters & vegetation of the canals. I chased one once
on that very levee, only to have it turn and chase me back.
Basically a giant rat that swims. There was agitation to
erradicate them to protect the levees, but the environmentally
inclined and animal-rights types quashed it.

.

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