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Updated June 29, 2014

I recently spent 3 hours in New Orleans lower ninth ward “lovebug swatting” while camera crews filmed Miss Juliette Allen for our Public Service Announcement (PSA) released today to an anticipating audience at a press conference. They were not disappointed by the 30-second video and also a second PSA featuring a toddler in nearby St. Bernard Parish.

Members of southeast Louisiana know that lovebugs swarm this time of year. Though harmless, they messed up some footage that we had to re-shoot. But Miss Allen was so patient and gave a splendid performance despite the physical and emotional hardship she endured.

Click here to view our two newest PSAs. Then, if you haven’t already, please demand the 8/29 Investigation Act.

Thank you,
Sandy Rosenthal
www.levees.org

Some experts recently clarified what it means for New Orleanians to be protected from a 100 year storm. At the annual Tulane Engineering Forum, Rick Anderson, chief actuary for California-based Risk Management Solutions, said 100-year storm protection does not translate into a “100-year guarantee.’’ He adds that 100-year protection means there is a 39.4 percent probability of failure during a 50-year span.

I am not a math genius, but even I can figure out that Congress has authorized the Corps to rebuild levees, which for my 17 year old son have a 40% probability of failing during his lifetime.

Forty percent is very very high! Clearly we need a better level of protection. We should demand Senate Bill 2826 which will determine that our flood protection is simply not robust enough.

Click here to Demand the 8/29 Investigation

Sandy Rosenthal
Founder Levees.Org

Click here for the expert’s statements on 100 year protection.

In a recent press conference, Levees.Org unveiled records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showing how just weeks after levees failed in New Orleans, the people responsible for making the levees, the US Army Corps of Engineers, directed and later paid an engineering group to communicate lessons learned from Katrina. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) received $1.1 million in taxpayer money to peer review the official levee failure study post-Katrina.

Levees.Org shows how power point presentations by ASCE downplayed the fault of the Corps, and overstated the responsibilities of the local authorities, the vulnerability of the city and the strength of the storm. This had the combined effect of diluting the need to alter levee building standards nationwide.

Click here to view the short video!