Even now, there is still one last and very hurtful myth still lurking 11 years after the flooding in New Orleans during Katrina.
Fed up with this stubborn and erroneous piece of conventional wisdom, we have created this 3-minute video.
Timed for the 11th anniversary of the 2005 flooding, this video puts a dagger into a victim-blaming myth – that the pre-Katrina Orleans Levee Board neglected to properly inspect and maintain the levees.
Narrated by H.J. Bosworth, Jr. Thanks to Dan Poulin who kindly loaned his Ferrari. American flag art by Stanford Rosenthal. Filmed and edited by Ralph Madison.
Sandy:
This is a good video that hopefully will finally end the myth that the levee system was not maintained properly. Thanks for getting it out.
However it has some inaccuracies. I know 1st hand the all of Louisiana’s levees have been well maintained for many years before Katrina, not just the OLD levee system. In fact the Corps outstanding maintenance plaques pictured in this video includes levee district representatives from all across the state, not just OLD.
However, the levee district’s pre-Katrina inspections did not meet the Fed standards of CFR 208.10 The levee districts, prior to as well as post Katrina are supposed to meet the CFR 208.10 inspection frequency: “not to exceed 90 days” and after every flood event. And are required to submit an inspection report twice each year. Some but not all districts submitted a semiannual reports, but there is no documentation of any quarterly inspections nor any post event inspection documentation. Although levee district maintenance forces were on the levees daily, and visually “inspected” the system after events, there exist little or no documentation of any findings at the required 90 day intervals. The Corps annual “drive by” inspection was only intended to verify that the district’s were meeting maintenance requirements, and Corps O&M staff led by Mr Collette in New Orleans pre-inspected the levees and brought the District commander to problem areas during this annual drive by inspection. They did not attempt to ride the entire system, and it did include a meal during which the Corps would discuss the issues with the levee district staff and the state OPW employees. The Corps inspection guidelines were revised after Katrina and are now much more detailed, not really improved, but the CFR was not changed and MORE FREQUENT INSPECTIONS ARE NOT REQUIRED. Now, the state requires levee districts to meet the pre existing CFR frequency and to submit quarterly inspection reports (documentation).
Personally, I do not believe the levees and flood walls need inspections every 90 days. Levees just do not deteriorate enough to require this frequency. Cracks in walls, levee slides, areas without proper sod, etc etc when found, should be very closely monitored and documented; but not the entire system. Its just a waste of levee district resources and limited manpower.
The Corps may have been constructing levee for 200 yrs somewhere, but not the New Orleans levees. Federal involvement began only after the 1927 flood when congress created the MR&T Project, still not even 100 yrs. And federal hurricane protection was authorized only after Hurricane Betsy. Not even close to 200 yrs. and the video should not have included this misrepresentation.
The O&M manuals for the MR&T levees as well as the hurricane levees prior to Katrina were generic and relatively vague. Not specific to OLD and not nearly as detailed as the new O&M manuals. Levee districts had very little written guidance for maintenance prior to Katrina. But the state office of public works had engineering levee expertise, along with Mr Collette, and provided common sense O&M advice to the districts. Common sense went away with the new guidelines prepared at COE HQ and applied nation wide without any ability for local levee maintenance requirements. For example, requiring removal of all trees that used to protect hurricane levees from wave wash and surge. Trees are usually not compatible with good levee maintenance but absolutely helped hurricane levees.
Larry Ardoin, P.E. retired
Office of Public Works