For those younger than 15 years old, the levee breaches of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina are only a story.
On time for hurricane season, WDSU TV has partnered with KIPP school to help youngsters understand the morning of August 29, 2005.
Reported by Damon Singleton. Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal assists.
On time for hurricane season, Bess Casserleigh of WBRZ TV in Baton Rouge features founder Sandy Rosenthal with Levees.org’s Flooded House Museum in New Orleans and also the Ground Zero Museum in Waveland, Mississippi.
Fifty-five percent of the American population lives in counties protected by levees.
This is much higher than originally thought. Levees.org uncovered this important information after filing a request under the Freedom of Information Act in 2009. Prior to our request, the number – stated by experts to our members of Congress – was forty-three percent.
Dan Swenson utilized our data to create this levee county map while he worked for the Times-Picayune in 2010.
Senator Mary Landrieu has used the map in her work on Capitol Hill fighting to fix flood insurance rates.
And most recently, a board member of the Fort Bend Levee District in the Houston Texas area requested a copy of our levee county map. The board member felt the map was a “great presentation of the levee system in the US.”
The map is not likely to differ significantly with the results of the 2010 census. Nonetheless, this week, Levees.org filed a new request under FOIA for the updated information.
