Will They Hold?

According to the National Geographic magazine, Bob Bea, a professor in the Department of Civil and Enviromental Engineering at the University of California assessed the New Orleans levees two years after hurricane Katrina hit.

Joel K. Bourne, Jr., Senior Editor of the National Geographic wrote "Other weak spots in the system noted by Bea include decade-old gaps in the floodwalls lining the Orleans Avenue Canal and hurricane-damaged sections of the walls along the London Avenue and 17th Street Canals that have not been repaired or replaced. Bea also believes water could seep under the stout new floodwall erected along the Industrial Canal to protect the Lower Ninth Ward."

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) put out a report for Congress in September 2005, about one week after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. This report includes information on the levees and hurricane damage protection.

This report claims "Protecting New Orleans has been an increasingly difficult task. First, the city has become increasingly vulnerable. Land in the city has subsided; barrier islands and wetlands buffering coastal Louisiana have been disappearing; and sea levels have risen. These factors have contributed to speculation that the existing storm damage protection infrastructure was not providing Category 3 protection."

The report also added "Decisions on what type and level of hurricane protection to provide New Orleans and other coastal areas in the future, as well as factors contributing to Katrina’s damages (Category 3 infrastructure, and levee and floodwall construction, maintenance, and appropriations) likely will be the subject of congressional oversight."

So what does all this mean? Well, in simple terms, the levees in New Orleans were not built to withstand category three hurricanes and they still aren't. Although some of the levees on the East side of New Orleans were re-built, a few levees on the West side were left untouched, therefore leaving New Orleans susceptible to the wrath of hurricane Gustav.