Very Painful Questions about New Orleans

Abstract

In this study we try to explore the consequences of Hurricane in New Orleans in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on Hurricane of Katrina and its blame on the officials. The research also analyzes the article of “Very Painful Questions about New Orleans” and find out the fallacies of the article.

Very Painful Questions about New Orleans

Critique of the Article

Is the Bush Administration partly to blame for the failure of the New Orleans Levees? In a word, no! The levees were designed for a level 3 storm and they worked as designed despite the fact they are built on unstable ground. Different levees failed for different reasons. The Industrial Canal on the East side of the city took a storm surge that came up connecting waterways from the Gulf side. The 17th Street canal was undercut by overtopping water that was fed, uninterrupted, from the lake above.

The solution is not a single one-stop-shopping fix. IMO the failure of the inner city canals was the result of a lack of floodgates. If the lake was isolated from these canals (with gates) they could have pumped the canals down somewhat in preparation for the storm. Floodgates would also prevent the lake from emptying into the city via the canals. The river and lake levees are another story. They need to be high enough to hold back a storm surge (almost impossible in a level 5 hurricane). The industrial canal has a lock on the river side which can act as a floodgate but should still have a gate on the lake side. The same goes for any connecting waterways into the Industrial Canal. The Corps did not design the most recent levee upgrades adequately, as has been pointed out. Forensic tests have shown that shoddy construction methods were used and oversight did not catch them. Today's paper points out that inspection of the 100 mile system were an annual affair that took about 6 hours so as to allow for a seafood lunch afterwards (Petroski, 7).

Construction contracts were awarded by one of several local levee boards made up of low-level government cronies appointed by the governor. None were engineers. All wanted to be on the board, even though it is an unpaid position. Note that it's legal in Louisiana for levee board members to award contracts to their wives companies, their father's companies, their son's companies - - in short, it's a good way to get rich on the government nickel. And finally, there is no reason US taxpayers should fund the majority of the New Orleans levee system. The community is protected by a massive dam and levee system that we paid for locally and is maintain through a separate tax. If New Orleans is not viable by itself then something needs to.

The potential for major hurricane storm surge impacts along the Gulf Coast is increased by the gentle offshore slope, the low-lying setting of New Orleans, and protections not designed to withstand ...