History ... reduex

What was it..... I think it was the Orleans and London Avenue canals that had its retaining walls pushed out during Katrina? I seem to remember it being those two but let me recap what I am babbling about.

We all remember Katrina and how New Orleans flooded. Now something about the geography of New Orleans. It sits BELOW and BETWEEN a huge arse lake and the huge arse Mississippi river. BELOW and BETWEEN......like a city size punch bowl.

Now Katrina didn't dump a lot of water on New Orleans. Not so much as any other hurricane and if it had just been that then things might have been very different for New Orleans. What Katerina did do was PUSH a whole hell of a lot of water into the New Orleans canal system. One particular canal, the industrial canal, was over come with a type 3 equivalent surge that capped the canal walls and spilled onto the ground holding the foundation. As you can guess water washed away the ground and with nothing else holding the wall up it......promptly fell.....flooing down town New Orleans.

The one-two combo on Katrina was the previous two canals I mentioned. It seems that when the Army core of Engineers build those two canals they didn't seem to do much with the soil. This very sand soil with clay on top. This sand rich soil was no match against type 1 equivalent surge that raced down the canals. And as the water NEVER reached the top of the canal walls it merely pushed them....like you would a toy bulldozer pushes sand in a sand box.

Well, you should know me by now. I usually don't bring stuff up unless there is a reason. And had it not been for an article that came out last May, then I might not be alarmed. But then I looked at the weather report. And I started reading about how tropical storm Gustav is going to become hurricane Gustav. And then I read how hurricane Gustav is going to be a level three hurricane. And then I said to myself....."Self, I wonder where this level three hurricane is heading". Glad I asked myself as this is what I found.

Um.....to quote Braveheart on this one "The good lord tells me can get me out of this one but he tells me, you're fvcked!"