Lessons from Hurricane Katrina: Can we save California’s Delta?

Raymond B. Seed, Professor of GeoEngineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley, CA,  Past Presentation 2006

The catastrophic flooding of New Orleans during hurricane Katrina was the single most costly failure of an engineered system in history. It was also a social and cultural tragedy of unprecedented peacetime proportions for the United States.

After the disaster, a team of leading experts from across the country examined the engineering and organizational issues that led to the failure of the levees. Their findings have direct and timely implications for California, the state currently facing the greatest risk of catastrophic flooding from levee failure.

Professor Ray Seed co-chairs the joint State-Federal Technical Advisory Committee for assessment of levee-related risk for the State of California. Professor Seed also led the post-Katrina investigation, and presented his team