Criminal probe to be launched into New Orleans levee failure

[JTD]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatri ... id=1301585

[O Town]

Well I hope this all leads them to find out why the levees truley failed, and they can prevent future similar problems.

And off topic but there is a link on that page to a video of granny shoots intuder. That was pretty good. Funny and sad at the same time, granny was not playing.

[TSmith274]

I'm very happy to hear this. It was certainly faulty design.

Many levees, constructed in the same manner as the ones in N.O., broke in lower Plaquemines Parish. Same walls, same construction... but many more breaks. Every single mile of the river levee in the lower end of the parish is either shifted, leaning, or collapsed.

So, the breaks in New Orleans are not unique. They broke all over the place... from New Orleans all the way to Venice, LA. Not much attention has been given to this fact. I'll get some pictures as soon as I can the next time I'm down there. I'll post them here... it's really sad, frustrating, and embarrasing to see how total and complete the levee failures were.

As an engineer said... the destruction in SE La is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

[vbhoutex]

I'm very happy to hear this. It was certainly faulty design.

Many levees, constructed in the same manner as the ones in N.O., broke in lower Plaquemines Parish. Same walls, same construction... but many more breaks. Every single mile of the river levee in the lower end of the parish is either shifted, leaning, or collapsed.

So, the breaks in New Orleans are not unique. They broke all over the place... from New Orleans all the way to Venice, LA. Not much attention has been given to this fact. I'll get some pictures as soon as I can the next time I'm down there. I'll post them here... it's really sad, frustrating, and embarrasing to see how total and complete the levee failures were.

As an engineer said... the destruction in SE La is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

I have no proof whatasoever either way, but I wouldn't be so fast to point to faulty design as opposed to faulty construction. Some of what I have read leads me to believe that the problems may have arisen during the construction process, when moneys were deleted and therefore there could have been shortcuts taken to try and stay within budget and/or glean money from the budget. There has been a lot of accusations of graft concerning the levees over the years and I think it is great that they are investigating them. It is truly sad the thousands had to die to trigger this!!!

[MGC]

I'd be surprised if no graft is uncovered. That has been the way of life in Louisiana since I can remember. Want something done, bribery is the preferred method. One of Mayor Nagin's first moves was against graft in New Orleans government.....MGC

[x-y-no]

Hopefully this US Attorney is strong enough and independent enough to withstand all the politics whirling around this.