Hurricane Warning
As Hurricane Gustav strengthens and heads toward the Gulf of Mexico, "New Orleans Repeating Deadly Levee Mistakes" by AP's Cain Burdeau raises alarming issues.
Signs are emerging that history is repeating itself in the Big Easy, still healing from Katrina: People have forgotten a lesson from four decades ago and believe once again that the federal government is constructing a levee system they can prosper behind.
In a yearlong review of levee work here, The Associated Press has tracked a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations since Katrina, that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood.
Dozens of interviews with engineers, historians, policymakers and flood zone residents confirmed many have not learned from public policy mistakes made after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which set the stage for Katrina; many mistakes are being repeated.
"People forget, but they cannot afford to forget," said Windell Curole, a Louisiana hurricane and levee expert. "If you believe you can't flood, that's when you increase the risk of flooding. In New Orleans, I don't think they talk about the risk."
At the bottom of the page there's a link to the Army Corps of Engineers' attractive Web site on projects to protect New Orleans from hurricanes.
http://blog.nola.com/updates/2008/08/new_orleans_repeating_deadly_l.html