Planned, forgotten: Unfinished projects could've spared thousands from Louisiana flood

The Advocate ^ | 20 August 2016 | Steve Hardy& David J. Mitchell

[Godzilla]

Most engineering solutions for flood control are based on a 200 year event. even those solutions would be insufficient for a 1000 year event

[AmericanVictory]

Many Corps projects have been blocked by the environmentalists. It goes back to the blocking of the erection of flood control gates at the Rigolees that could have done much to limit the Katrina damage.

[SandRat]

The Army Corps of Engineers had and may still have, A National Contract to solve these problems. The work did not get done due to Intensive local Politics, Local stubbornness to change and UNIONs.

[Raymann]

I’m from south west louisiana and for at least 20 years we’ve buried people in concrete lined graves with a concrete cover. It’s very much a creole Catholic area and the only above ground graves are the communal crypts.

[freeandfreezing]

I understand. The problem isn't knowing what to do, its finding the resources to build stuff that may never be needed. Building levees taller, and drainage canals wider and deeper, and building only at higher elevations, or on pilings would prevent flood damage. But each time you choose a design to withstand a more unlikely event the cost goes up. At some point a choice gets made to take the risk.

That approach is good overall, but not so good if you happen to be one of the unlucky ones for whom the preparations are insufficient.

That said, it seems like an interesting area for some research would be ways to design houses so that they could withstand shallow, slowly flowing floods. It might be possible to design a sealing and structural system that could withstand a shallow flood. In cases like the mess in Louisiana such a system could have saved a lot of homes from damage.

[Lera]

[[rotting coffins popping out of the soggy soil is alarmist nonsense ]]

But they do pop out of the ground .
I grew up on the other side of the river .
I remember hearing and reading about caskets popping out of the ground many times during floods .

[IronJack]

Did you ever actually see it? I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just a little doubtful that a wooden coffin in that high a water table would have any buoyancy after more than a week or two in the ground. Wood buried in damp soil does not survive long.

Still, I suppose there has to be some truth to the legends ... All I know is what the boozy tour guide told us.

[Kickass Conservative]

Just curious, has anyone accused Trump of blowing up a Levee yet?