New Orleans levees repaired (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(Now, as long as it doesn't rain for a while...and what does "..."We've spiraled in new information..." mean, is that the same as Spin?)

New Orleans levees repaired

Wed May 31, 2006 09:05 PM ET

By Jeffrey Jones

VIOLET, Louisiana (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has met its goal of fixing battered levees around New Orleans as the new hurricane season starts, but residents still face flood risks, senior officials said on Wednesday.

Standing on a clay and dirt levee in St. Bernard Parish, which was inundated by floodwater after Hurricane Katrina, Maj. Gen. Ronald Johnson said the Corps repaired 169 miles of the 350 mile system by its June 1 target. "I think New Orleans can be confident in its hurricane protection system because it is better and it is stronger," Johnson said after a helicopter tour.

"We've spiraled in new information as we've learned some things, working with the technical experts to tell us what it is we need to do to build this system using the best materials, science, engineering and construction practices." But it is not certain it will protect against all storms, officials said. Katrina came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane.

"There will always be a risk," said Maj. Gen. Don Riley, the Corps' director of civil works. "Another Katrina, on a different track, at a different speed, moving slower with more rainfall could do damage."

(more at link)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=12388109&src=rss/topNews>

[panader0]

1. It's a shame that builders cut costs

Maybe the Engineers will do better work. I work on big structures and my reputation and license are on the line if I don't do it right. The original levees were built shoddily. I hope they got it right. I love NO

[autorank]

5. self delete

[autorank]

2. So when are the idiots who screwed up the original repairs indicted?

That's the key question: who will be held responsible and what will the charges be?

Since several thousand people died and tens of thousands incurred injuries that are no doubt felonious as a result of the deliberate, by choice, failure to fix these properly, we can expect indictments sometime before the statute of limitations expires.

It has to happen or there is no meaning to our judicial system.

[autorank]

3. "People died..safety .. exchanged for efficiency" UC Berkeley expert

Katrina report blames human errors
Poor levees, policies cited by investigators
Monday, May 22, 2006
By Sheila Grissett
East Jefferson bureau
Times Picayune

Hurricane Katrina wouldn't have breached the region's hurricane protection system had it been properly financed, designed, built and maintained, say a group of forensic scientists who are calling for strict new federal levee safety standards and an end to "dysfunctional" local government interference they say also hampers flood protection.

"People didn't die here because levees were overtopped," said Independent Levee Investigation Team leader Ray Seed, a geotechnical engineer at the University of California-Berkeley. "People died because mistakes were made and because safety was exchanged for efficiency and reduced costs.

"New Orleans flooded not so much because there was a hurricane, but because of human error, poor decisions and judgments, and failed policies," said Seed, who traveled with other team members to New Orleans over the weekend to release their 500-page "draft final" report into what they say is the costliest catastrophic failure of an engineered system in history. Current damages are on the order of $100 billion to $150 billion -- and rising.

[autorank]

4. "Both sides were failing"...the one protecting NOLA went first.

During Katrina, the 17th Street Canal floodwall protecting Jefferson Parish was about to collapse . . . but the one protecting Orleans Parish failed first
Thursday, May 04, 2006
By Sheila Grissett
East Jefferson bureau
Times Picayune


"The west wall was at the point of incipient failure, meaning if the water had stayed at that elevation just a little longer, or had the water risen higher, we would have seen a release of floodwater to the Jefferson Parish side," team member Bob Bea, a geotechnical engineer from Berkeley, said this week.

Water would have poured first into Bucktown, then inundated other low-lying areas of East Jefferson until the break could be closed, a frustrating, hit-and-miss task that took more than two days on the canal's eastern bank as the lake gushed into Lakeview and points beyond.

"Absolutely, there's no doubt about it," said Bea, a former Shell Oil chief engineer who lost his New Orleans home to Hurricane Betsy in 1965. "There are signs of incipient failure on the Jefferson side, but the Orleans side just let go first."

'Both sides were failing'

[autorank]

6. "There's big money in disasters," Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans

KATRINA: Contractors rake it in as they clean it up

Critics say FEMA overpays, fails to supervise disaster recovery firms
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13629
by Martin Wolk, MSNBC
May 31st, 2006

For companies in the disaster business, 2005 was a very good year. And if preseason predictions are correct, it could be the first in a series of profitable years for a rapidly growing industry that encompasses engineering firms, debris haulers and logistical specialists who rush in whenever disaster strikes.

In addition to being the largest natural disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina was a boon for companies that specialize in recovering from such devastation. It opened the spigot to billions of dollars in federal contracts to haul debris, make emergency repairs to damaged homes and buildings, and provide temporary housing and other structures.

The scope of the government aid and the private sector's degree of involvement was eye-opening to those on the receiving end.

"There is big money in disasters,” New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said recently at a conference of mayors. “Huge money."

[autorank]

8. This is what the citizens are getting for their money!

CONTACT: Institute for Southern Studies / Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch
Sue Sturgis: 919-419-8311 x25, [e-mail]
Chris Kromm: 919-419-8311 x26, [e-mail]
"Common Dreams"
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0531-10.htm

In each area, the report finds that lack of federal leadership has left the crippled city with a patchwork system of storm protection that leaves New Orleans at serious risk:

* Due to delays in funding and construction, nearly 20% of New Orleans levees and floodwalls destroyed by Katrina have not been repaired. What’s more, the Army Corps of Engineers has no mandate to protect the city from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, even though climate trends show storms are growing in intensity.

* The city’s pump system, designed to prevent flooding in low-lying areas, has not been tested and repaired after being corroded after Katrina. Three pumps failed during a light rain in April, and doubts about oversight and evacuation plans have added to the chaos.

* Federal leaders have done little to restore Louisiana’s fast-disappearing coastal wetlands. Despite being an excellent natural “buffer” against storm surges, Congress rejected a $2 billion proposal to restore the wetlands this spring.

* Over the concerns of community leaders, officials have failed to take action to close the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet -- 40-year-old relic which during Katrina breached its levees in 20 places, and is responsible for destroying over 20,000 acres of key wetlands.

[pitohui]

11. thank you autorank

i'm too heartsick to even bother to go into it any more, you sum it up well

the pumps burning up in april is just one sick example

now the new levee at buras has ALREADY collapsed

it's unf**king-ridiculous

there has been eff all done but at least reuters is happy and chances are the hurricanes this year are going to destroy florida instead of us anyway so there's that

siiiigggghhhhh


i'm sure the halliburton co. and * co have made zillions off this, the rest of us can only pray we're allowed to live another year

[autorank]

14. I'm with you in heart and soul...this just upsets me so much, you more

of course, since it's your home. What a great place, visited there many times...the people are the best feature because you make the food, music, art, and ambiance that allowed me to sit on the Mississippi at 4:30 a.m. and have the best pastry and coffee I could ever find after a night of local delights...nothing like it.

This was my very small contribution.

Hang in there, millions support you but the TotalInformationAwareness media lockdown makes it
very hard to even hear these stories. The Picayune has been great. The rest could just crib
off of them but NOOO, couldn't do that, might require some work and the CM just sits on it's fat
ass and does nothing while their pay masters tell them what to type.

I have total respect for you and every NOLA citizen who has stayed and fought for their city.

You folks are real heroes.

[autorank]

10. I've presented a prima facia case for an investigation RIGHT F'ing NOW!!!!

Of the pre Katrina and post Katrina "recovery" phase...is there a federal prosecutor
ready to start. Oh, I'm sorry, they're closing up the shocking scandal Ashcroft had t
them on pre katrina, prostitution ... shocking.

The Democrats better kick some serious ass and take back Congress THEN start an investigation.

This was a crime, is a crime, will continue to be a crime!!!

ENOUGH OF THE BULL SHIT

[pitohui]

7. ha ha ha ha ha

if you say so, the new levee at buras collapsed yesterday you know

[autorank]

9. Got a link, that's amazing.

[pitohui]

12. here we go

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2006_05_29.html#145684

i know some folks from buras, one of whom died, so it's really bothersome to me the expletive deletive job they've done in plaquemines

With hurricane season only three days away, the Army Corps of Engineers on Monday announced that a 400-foot section of earthen hurricane protection levee being rebuilt near Buras High School in Plaquemines Parish slumped by more than 6 feet overnight Saturday, and repairs could take three to six weeks.

[autorank]

15. I'm very sorry for our loss. I'm speehless...we live in a madhouse...

It's as though NOLA is some distant colony where the events don't really matter. Of course they can't report on this, its as inflammatory as reporting that the f'ing last two presidential elections were stolen...shakes any faith in the entire system to the core, never to be the same again. We're all expendable, useless diversions to the goals of the 'leet scum who profit on your tragedy. If there's any justice, and I'm hoping there is, then this will be rectified.

[pitohui]

16. we do live in a madhouse

every time i think i've heard it all, then i hear something else

oh well, all we can do is move forward

[lindisfarne]

13. I heard a report on NPR last week - might have been Talk of the Nation

last Friday, May 26. They talked to engineers who worked on the original design of the levees and some of the safety features (I think it was related to overengineering them for a large safety margin) those engineers had originally proposed got removed before they were built. Of course, all the over-engineering in the world could be for naught if the installation is faulty.
Link to that show here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434630

[Up2Late]

17. No, they said the original design was supposed to factor in an extra...

...margin of safety, but they didn't.

They said the Levees are supposed to be calculated with a safety factor of 1.3 (130% - 30% stronger than needed), but they used a factor of 1.0 (100% - 0% margin of error).

The engineer said that 1.3 is standard practice for this type of project. It's the second link you are talking about.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434627>

Predicting the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Listen to this story...

Talk of the Nation, May 26, 2006 · Hurricane season officially begins June 1. Scientists are predicting as many as six major hurricanes this year. Could we see another Katrina? Ira Flatow leads a discussion.

Guest:

Gerald Bell, lead forecaster for NOAA's Seasonal Hurricane Outlook Climate Prediction Center, National Weather Service.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434627>

New Orleans: Are the Levees Ready?

Listen to this story...

Talk of the Nation, May 26, 2006 · A report out this week finds that the levees in New Orleans failed during Hurricane Katrina not because the storm was so big, but because of problems in the way they were designed, built, and maintained. Ira Flatow leads a discussion on whether New Orleans is ready for a new storm season.

Robert Bea, member, Independent Levee Investigation Team; professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Berkeley.

Ivor van Heerden, author The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina; director, Center for the Study of Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes; deputy director, LSU Hurricane Center; associate professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University.

David E. Daniel, chairman, American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) External Review Panel; President, University of Texas at Dallas.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434630>

[lindisfarne]

19. Thanks for that. I had tried to listen to the link before replying but

could not - for whatever reason, RealPlayer will not play back the archived NPR shows, although I can stream live from multiple local NPR stations. Have no idea what the problem is.

[Up2Late]

21. Most likely, you need to download the most recent RealPlayer version.

I often have trouble too.

My trouble started when they started adding a 10-12 second "sponsorship message" before the audio stream starts.

Here are some things I do also, if updating the software doesn't work:

1) If the RealPlayer hangs, click the "next track" or forward button. Often, it's just hung on one of those ads.

2) If you are using Windows, close a few of the programs in the "Quick Start" area (on the bottom right, near the clock). Sometimes, it's because you're running low on System resources.

3) Switch to the "Windows Media Player," Sometimes it's just them having a problem with that version of the program or the that media stream.

I hope those suggestions help.

[lindisfarne]

27. Thanks. I did try downloading the most recent version but that didn't

help, although I still could try completely uninstalling and reinstalling the latest version.

If I wait long enough, it seems that it downloads the entire program (takes forever - for some reason it downloads the packets REALLY slowly - about 1000 times more slowly than it downloads the packets for live streaming from my local NPR station) and then starts to play the entire program, except I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING. Who knows?

I've tried the other things you've suggested. I'm not willing to go to Windows Media Player due to other concerns about that program (I'm well aware of the concerns regarding Real Player. sigh.)

[lindisfarne]

28. self-delete doublepost

[populistdriven]

20. 1.3 is adequate for farmland not a city

[Up2Late]

22. Absolutely, but that just shows how much they care for the city folk...

...in New Orleans.

I guess they still think of the Poor, and the Black and brown people as nothing more than Cattle or Beasts of burden. :mad:

[Igel]

23. Wasn't the story not that they aimed at

no margin of safety, but that's what they got anyway, because they didn't include information they should have had? (It was something about not having made sufficient samples and erroneously using some sort of average, IIRC.)

"They said the Levees are supposed to be calculated with a safety factor of 1.3 (130% - 30% stronger than needed), but they used a factor of 1.0 (100% - 0% margin of error)" leaves the wrong impression, I think. I think they thought they had achieved 1.3, but they only actually got 1.0.

Almost all engineering is compromise.

[Up2Late]

25. I think that was from an earlier report, but Yes, it all adds up to...

...a 0% margin of safety when, as pointed out above, 1.3 (30% stronger than needed) is thought to be adequate only for Farm Animals and Crop land, NOT people in a Major Port city.

[Igel]

29. But if they didn't know it wasn't

1.0, then most of the discussion is pointless.

Sure, 1.0 is only good for farm animals and the like. But all that means is that somebody screwed up a decade or two ago because they didn't properly incorporate a report.

They'd agree with you, and go off wondering why they had the vague impression their intent was the actual subject of discussion. People get outraged over mistakes all the time; but at some point have to admit it was a mistake, even if it was a whopper. Not the same kind of outrage that happens when something intentionally goes wrong.

Then the question becomes one of negligence and any lack of due diligence. I haven't seen anybody say that they didn't act as they should have, given assumptions at the time. I've heard that they didn't act as we now know they should have, and they overlooked information that was later shown to be crucial. I don't actually know if they'll be able to answer that question, to be honest. But it's the biggie.

[Up2Late]

31. Sorry, I think you misunderstood what I and others here wrote...

...I was reponding to someone who said 1.3 should only the safety factor for Farmland, but even 1.3 is far too low for an important Port City where millions of people live.

What the researcher, who was the subject of the "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" interview that we are discussing, found that when the he went back and carefully examined the original plans for the Levees, it turned out that they were only engineered to 1.0, not 1.3 as we've all been lead to believe all these years.

Here's the link to that interview:
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434630>

[autorank]

18. and I was headed to bed...

I was just thinking a couple of days ago, well, they're probably fixing things at least adequately. I didn't really believe it but ya know...every now and then...

This is such total insanity...we're just over the top...where are the politicians; the great humanitarians, supposedly, who proclaim a second coming; the Corporate Media; the weasels who have all the answers in the Republican Party; and our own party...WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1325825&mesg_id=1325825

[PATRICK]

24. The same story nationwide

Better, prepared, but no rational thinking whatsoever. Inevitable, increasing number rand violence of coastal storms. result: prosperous communities cannot keep rebuilding under those circumstances. Insurance flees first, then the population who can. The remainder if Bangladesh, Nixon defined as a "basket case" that is none of the administration's concern.

They can no more report the bald truth of the losing crapshoot that is life on the coast than on saying the stock market is unsustainable. You can't hear the truth. So the intelligent test will be to see who can think the simple truth for themselves and get out and how long it takes for the hyped optimists to learn the hard way before they go broke and die.

The miserable levees put up in NOLA no way compare to the Dutch modern dams- which also cannot sustain global warming oceans rising. It is a great object lesson about corporate media, who could say the blunt truth and not lose circulation for the service, but can't because it is simply against sunny culture and business boosting.

A lucky year this year will simply breed worse unreality and bigger disasters next year and the next and the next.

[MiniMe]

26. Well, not destroying the wetlands that protect NO would be an

even better thing.

[skypilot]

30. "We've spiraled in new information...

...as we've learned some things..."

These days, whenever I hear or read a sentence like that I'm convinced that the person is lying or not telling the whole story. Dishonesty is a great twister of the English language--or of any language for that matter.