[StBernard] levee design

[Westley Annis]

My previous comments about levee design seems to have a generated a few more
thoughts from everyone so I'll make some replies.
 
First, Craig is correct in that the public gets only the amount of
protection the feds appropriate, whether we are talking about
preventing/minimizing the damages from forest fires, terrrorism attacks,
floods, hurricanes, etc. What is actually bought or built has to fit the
"budget" or cost-benefit ratio.  It's like the pharmaceutical companies
which do a cost-benefit analysis on which drugs to test and put on the
market and insurance companies deciding which medical tests are fully paid
for. How many lives have to be saved in order to justify the insurance co.
paying for that mammogram or  a company creating a drug to cure a certain
malady? How many homes and businesses and lives are worth spending millions
of dollars to protect or minimize damages from these catastrophies?  It's
called "acceptable risk" in the world of economics.
 
With regards to why Michoud facility fared better than the rest- no doubt
those 38 workers who were trying to pump the Gulf out of their plant did a
great job, but had they run out of fuel or had a mechanical failure they
would have been like someone in a sinking boat pailing water with a spoon.
 
There are proven ways to increase levee protection-deeper sheet piling, pile
supported walls, higher walls, wider levees, levess lined with stone, etc.
All things that are a function of costs. Just like if money was no object
everyone south of I-10 will build 20 feet off the ground. 
 
No one has mentioned barges yet, and I'm surprised. Look at how much damage
barges did to levees on the river and in the canals and at the floodgates.
That happened in Betsy, too. Barges are huge, steel hulls that are shallow
and heavy and can breach any floodwall or levee protection regardless of how
high or how thick or how well maintained that flood protection is. Can you
protect your home from a runaway 18 wheeler traveling at any speed? I keep
waiting for someone to address barges. If MRGO was closed and the levees
were cat 5, what prevents even a single barge from ramming that flood
protection levee or floodwall or floodgate?
 
Some people want an assurance that we can never flood again. That's like
living in Kansas and expecting assurance that a tornado will never blow your
house apart or California with earthquakes, or Washington state and a
volcano or Nevada and Hoover Dam. There are always risks. If anyone finds
the place that has absolutely none of these risks, there is always an
Oklahoma City or NYC terrorist type attack.  We all want assurances, but all
we can do is compete for funding to get a fair share of funds from any
source for a reasonable level of protection. But everyone knows that
already.
 
 
Deborah Keller