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The Oh Decade: ‘Katrina Effect’ helped bolster flood defenses in California

Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:13 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

“In August 2005, millions of Californians stood in stunned silence in front of their television sets. Before them were images of New Orleans submerged in water, with desperate people clinging to rooftops.

More than 1,800 people died during Hurricane Katrina and the floods it unleashed. It was the deadliest U.S. hurricane in more than a half century, and it brought home the risks of living behind levees.

Twice following Katrina, I traveled to New Orleans, first as a reporter and then as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Along with my wife, I spent two weeks clearing out people’s homes that the floodwaters had inundated.

Unless you’ve been flooded yourself, it’s difficult to comprehend the heartbreak. Imagine your most prized possessions – photo albums, works of art – smothered in mud and mold.

Katrina was both a natural and a man-made disaster, and in California, it had special resonance.

Many communities here – from Sacramento to Stockton to canyon neighborhoods in Southern California – face a threat of deep flooding. … “

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

December 29, 2009 · Filed Under Flood Control/Stormwater, Levees

Comments

One Response to “The Oh Decade: ‘Katrina Effect’ helped bolster flood defenses in California”

  1. Editilla~New Orleans Ladder on December 30th, 2009 4:14 am

    (More than 1,800 people died during Hurricane Katrina and the floods it unleashed.)
    I know y’all didn’t say that, but we are trying to get the Story Straight and Stop Katrina Shorthand at the Sac Bee or wherever.
    Katrina did NOT flood New Orleans 8/29/05.
    The Corps of Engineers flooded New Orleans 8/29/05. Their structures failed in 56 locations, 3 of which accounted for 80% of the flooding due to “easily avoided engineering mistakes”, as stated in the ILET/Berkley Study, the Corps’ own studies, admitted by them in Federal Court and before Congress. They did it as surely as if someone put a gun in your mouth and pulled the trigger, premeditated… they knew.
    The Corps of Engineers killed over 1000 American Citizens on American Soil and ran from the crime.
    This is Fact. The above citation is a Misstatement of Fact.
    Please help us Stop Katrina Shorthand in the media misstating the Cause of our devastation 8/29/05.

    All of you in Aquafornia, particularly in Sacramento, really need to learn this lesson about Levees and the Corps of Engineers –learn this lesson or drown.
    Really. Actually. Factually.
    Please write the Sac Bee, as have I, and tell them (from me if you want):
    IT’S THE LEVEES STUPID!
    Thank you.

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