Hurricane Ida

Tuesday, August 31st, 2021

The path of Hurricane Ida

On August 29, 2021, Levees.org reached out to its national supporter base of which two thirds is outside of Greater New Orleans. We could do little more than offer warm thoughts and prayers to those in Hurricane Ida’s path.

Yesterday and today, we’ve been closely monitoring the news reporting on the Army Corps of Engineers’ new levee protection system in New Orleans.

News stories no longer blame the people of New Orleans, or the pre-Katrina levee board commissioners, for the levee catastrophe 16 years ago. That victim blaming has ended and that’s good. That progress.

However, while news reports have announced that the Army Corps’ new system had held, only one has focused attention on the reason the Army Corps’ system failed 16 years ago.

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Levees.org to host Press Conference at 16th Anniversary of New Orleans’ Levee Breach Event

Saturday, August 21st, 2021

Levees.org lead researcher H.J. Bosworth Jr speaks at plaque unveiling at 5th anniversary of levee breach event in New Orleans. Photo credit: Pat Garin 8/23/2010

WHAT: Outdoor press conference
WHEN: 10:00 a.m. August 25, 2021 (close to 16th anniversary of the worst civil engineering disaster in US history)
WHERE: 5000 Warrington Drive, New Orleans (site of Levee Exhibit Hall)

Levees.org has, in writing, recent remarks made by the incoming president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that are alarming. 

The remarks made by the incoming ASCE president, who is currently chair of the Civil Engineering Dept at the University of Mississippi, seem to indicate he does not know why the levees broke in Hurricane Katrina. He feels the US Army Corps of Engineers was 100% not at fault and that blame belongs to the state of Louisiana and to Congress.

Levees.org considers this an example of a larger problem, namely that 1) engineering professors in the US are not aware of the true cause of the worst civil engineering disaster in US history, and 2) civil engineering students are not being taught that civil engineering mistakes can be deadly. 

Fact: Nearly two-thirds of our nations’ population lives by levees.
Fact: The ASCE issues an Infrastructure Report Card for each state every four years.

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Founder Rosenthal’s Book is Finalist for Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award

Monday, August 9th, 2021

Founder Sandy Rosenthal is a finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award in the Non-Fiction category for her book Words Whispered in Water.

The award is given to authors of debut books that incorporate thriller, suspense and mystery.

The winner will be kept secret until the awards banquet taking place at the 2021 Killer Nashville’s 15th Annual Writers Conference August 19-22. Rosenthal plans to attend.

The Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference was created in 2006 by author/filmmaker Clay Stafford in an effort to bring together forensic experts, writers, and fans of crime and thriller literature.

For more about the conference, click here.

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