Facts Regarding Disaster In New Orleans

[SugarBee]

New Orleans, much of which sits below sea level, is surrounded by the Mississippi River to the south, Lake Pontchartrain to the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Construction of the levees between New Orleans, the River, and the Lake began in 1879. The earthen barriers were originally erected to prevent damage caused by seasonal flooding and to allow the city to expand beyond the natural levees on which it had been initially constructed.

 

Unfortunately, the levees interfered with the normal process of the River depositing sediment and building up the land of the delta marshlands during the periodic floods. Interrupting a process that created the land of the Mississippi Delta over the course of thousands of years caused the land to dry out. In turn, the swampy lands of Southern Louisiana shrank like a sponge, the land began to sink and entire barrier islands disappeared as the land of the vast delta slowly settled into the sea.

 

The subsidence of the land of southern Louisiana can be attributed to the leveeing of the Mississippi River, the pumping of ground water from under the city, the failure to address the environmental impact of development on the Mississippi Delta, subsidence and environmental damage caused of oil and gas production, and the failure to maintain and/or upgrade the levee and flood wall system despite many studies that warned of impending disaster.

 

Interestingly, the land of New Orleans and the surrounding communities was not below sea level when the communities were built.[/b] The area begin to sink precipitiously only after the current levee system was erected in the 1940s and 1950s and accelerated when the shipping canal flood walls were completed in the mid 1960s.

 

Shea Penland, a geologist at the University of New Orleans and contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the levees, attributes one third of the land subsidence to the large number of canals through the delta. Barge traffic and tides erode the earth around the edge of the canals, and salty Gulf water seeps in along them, slowly salinating the ground and killing the vegetation that helps hold the land together.

 

barges which had broken free of their moorings.

 

While it could be considered miraculous that the flood walls held at all during the Category 4 (or arguably Category 5) storm, they were no match for the secondary storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain. This failure of the flood walls which protected the city along the shipping canals caused a major flood that inundated the city and some of the surrounding Parishes. By August 31, the water level in New Orleans reached the level of Lake Pontchartrain, with close to 90% of New Orleans under water.

 

The pumping stations that were designed to remove flood waters from the city were flooded and could not be operated until dried out and supplied with power. However, even if most had continued to operate, their pumping capacity would have been insufficient to entirely protect from the flow through 5 floodwall breaches, which took only a day to flood some 80% of the city.

 

Flood walls and levees

 

To the surprise of some experts, the earthen levees in New Orleans city did not fail during Hurricane Katrina. Instead, the flood walls lining the shipping canals gave way and flooded the city and surrounding areas with the water from Lake Ponchartrain, which was then several feet above sea level. These flood walls are little more than two feet thick and were engineered in the 1960s to withstand only a Category 3 hurricane. Additionally, destruction of Cypress trees and other vegetation that previously thrived in the brackish waters where the mouth of the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico crippled the natural salt water filtration system. This damage escalated the process of erosion and removed the natural storm protection system that historically helped weaken storms before they struck heavily populated inland areas.

 

The final trigger to the catastrophe was hurricane damage to these flood walls that contained the water of the shipping canals that traverse the city. According to Col. Richard Wagenaar, Army Corps of Engineers, interviewed on WWL-TV, three flood walls were breached in five separate places:

 

Possible failure mechanisms being investigated by engineers include:

 

* Overtopping by storm surge and consequential undermining of flood wall foundations, or other weakening by water of the wall foundations,

* Storm surge pressures exceeding the strength of the floodwalls, and

* Impact by vessels such as barges which had broken free of their moorings.

 

While it could be considered miraculous that the flood walls held at all during the Category 4 (or arguably Category 5) storm, they were no match for the secondary storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain. This failure of the flood walls which protected the city along the shipping canals caused a major flood that inundated the city and some of the surrounding Parishes. By August 31, the water level in New Orleans reached the level of Lake Pontchartrain, with close to 90% of New Orleans under water.

 

The pumping stations that were designed to remove flood waters from the city were flooded and could not be operated until dried out and supplied with power. However, even if most had continued to operate, their pumping capacity would have been insufficient to entirely protect from the flow through 5 floodwall breaches, which took only a day to flood some 80% of the city.

 

Criticisms of federal response

 

New Orleans' top emergency management official called the effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly desperate city. New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert blamed the inadequate response on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "This is not a FEMA operation. I haven't seen a single FEMA guy", he said. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans." At the time, the main staging area was only 6 miles away along the adjoining I-10 at the Causeway intersection, and FEMA had apparently been at the Superdome three days earlier.

 

Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, in an interview broadcast on WWL (AM) on the early morning of 2 September, expressed his frustration at what he judged to be insufficient reinforcements provided by the President and federal authorities, even though he admitted rejecting evacuation buses. The interview was picked up by the news media such as CNN later that morning. He ended the interview in tears.

 

Additionally, many police, fire and EMS organizations from outside the affected areas have reportedly been stymied in their efforts to send help and assistance to the area. Official requests for help through the proper chains of command have not been forthcoming. Local police and other EMS workers are apparently traumatized themselves. At least two officers have apparently committed suicide, and many have apparently deserted and turned in their badges.

 

In contrast to claims that FEMA was not present, have been many reports of FEMA blocking relief efforts. Globalstar reported that a truck carrying more than 1,000 satellite telephones was barred from the disaster area. Aaron Broussard, the President of Jefferson Parish, which neighbors New Orleans, criticized the governments response on the September 4, 2005 edition of NBC's Meet the Press. Broussard described how FEMA blocked water deliveries from Wal-Mart, blocked the shipment of fuel to his area, cut emergency communication lines and described how the local sheriff posted armed guards to protect the lines after they were reconnected;

 

We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, 'Come get the fuel right away.' When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. 'FEMA says don't give you the fuel.' Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice

 

State and federal troops

 

Another criticism of the federal response comes in the form of the National Guard. Often the first defense for hurricane-hit areas, the Louisiana National Guard would often be the first to respond to a scene. While the National Guard is usually activated through gubernatorial process, the president also has the authority to call national guard into action. President Bush did not do this. Additionally, New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson offered assistance to New Orleans 2 days before the hurricane hit, but paperwork was held up in Washington, D.C. until after the storm hit. [45] Congress has vowed to investigate the Guard's sluggish response as well as the lack of activation of many government plans such as the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, which could have put commercial and private planes into action to help drop cargo or evacuate civilians.

 

President Bush, having ordered New Orleans a state of emergency two days before Katrina's strike, stayed on vacation two days after the hurricane made landfall. However, a president is never truly on vacation. That said, Bush has spent more time "not truly vacationing" than any other president, and this has been noted often. Bush's ranch has access to all the equipment available at the White House with full communication to cabinet members. Congress, as well, was on vacation.

 

The US Constitution, under the Posse Comitatus Act, prohibits the use of Federal troops or forces other than the Coast Guard for law enforcement unless the Governor of the state formally requests aid. Gov. Blanco did dispatch a letter to the White House on 27 August[46], but did not specifically request the use of the regular military. The Louisiana National Guard remained under her control.

 

Criticisms of city and local response

 

The Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan of January 2000 called for these buses, now waterlogged, to provide transportation out of the city prior to landfall.

 

The Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan of January 2000 called for these buses, now waterlogged, to provide transportation out of the city prior to landfall.

 

Many have also criticised the local and state governments, who have primary responsibility for local disasters.Mayor Nagin has come under criticism for allegedly failing to execute the New Orleans disaster plan, which called for the use of the city's school buses in evacuating residents unable to leave on their own. Having chosen the Superdome as the refuge of last resort, some have alleged that the Mayor did not preposition food and water. If the Superdome had not been opened up to the public, as requested by the Mayor, the casualties would have almost certainly have been far greater, but had he actually used the plan the city developed, the people would have been bused out of New Orleans and the catastrophe would have been ameliorated.

 

Governor Blanco issued a voluntary evacuation order and acknowledged that she received a call from the President on August 27, 2005, urging her to make it mandatory in order to get as many people as possible out of the path of the storm. On Saturday August 27, Governor Blanco did request that President Bush "declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina." The White House responded to Governor Blanco's request that same day, August 27, by declaring the emergency and authorizing FEMA "to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."

 

According to a Washington Post report on Sunday, September 4, "Shortly before midnight Friday [september 2], the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans." The Bush administration's offer to have the federal government aid in the evacuation was rejected. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request.

 

Others have also leveled criticism at Governor Blanco for not having activated Louisiana National Guard sooner. Past disasters have relied on some federal assistance but with the state and local governments taking the lead. These critics claim that there was inadequate preparation at the state and local levels in the case of Hurricane Katrina and as a result FEMAs role was handicapped.

 

 

 

Communications failures

 

Coordination of rescue efforts August 29 and August 30 were frustrated by inability to communicate. Many telephones, including most cell phones, were not working due to line breaks, destruction of base stations, or power failures, even though some base stations had their own back-up generators. In a number of cases, reporters were asked to brief public officials on the conditions in areas where information was not reaching them any other way.

 

Amateur radio has been providing tactical and emergency communications as well as health-and-welfare enquiries

 

 

 

 

 

New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

 

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.

[Lonan3]

[Alias]

BBC's the new Al Jazeera.

[nipper]

Tip for making long rambling cut 'n' paste posts. (Albeit a serious subject)

 

Read it through and make sure you haven't repeated 'yourself'.

Read it through and make sure you haven't repeated 'yourself'.

Tidy it up:

 

capital letters at the start of paragraphs etc.

 

(DAWFU) Define acronyms when first used.

 

 

An interesting post.

 

 

Yes, I'm grumpy.

 

It's Monday morning. Bin wagon woke the whole bleedin' house up at 6:15 am.

 

and talking of rubbish, Manx Radio News this morning. One of the most Government influenced news I've ever heard. They must have threatened to withdraw the subsidy.

[SugarBee]

well, i suppose i must go on and on and on and

repeat

 

takes one to know one

 

 

happy monday

[Pat Ayres]

I wonder if that's the same bin wagon makes me up at 6:15 on Monday mornings?

Do you also get the road sweeper at 7:30?