[NEW ORLEANS LEVEES] NEWSROOM for November 27, 2000

CNN. transcripts for November 2000

[Grendel9]

MARY PFLUM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the city of New Orleans, there are hurricanes, and then there are hurricanes. JOE SUHAYDA, LOUISIANA WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE: At the extreme, if a Category 5 hit, there's concern that the city would not be recoverable.

PFLUM: And that's because New Orleans, plagued by a history of substantial floods and cited by the World Bank as one of the planet's most vulnerable cities, is essentially a big bowl, surrounded by levees which separate it from the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchatrain.

Most of the city is eight feet below sea level and sinking at a rate of three feet a century. Walls around the city were built to protect it from a Category 3 hurricane, but if a Category 4 or 5 system hits...

MARK LEVITAN, DIR., LSU HURRICANE CENTER: That's our worst-case scenario. We would expect that most of the entire city would be flooded, in some areas to 10 to 20 or more feet of water.

IVOR VON HERRDEN, LSU HURRICANE CENTER: We're looking at a situation where an excess of 250,000 people will be trapped in the rising flood waters that will be held now within the levee system.

PFLUM: That's why city planners are preparing the Big Easy for a potentially big problem.

Joe Suhayda is among those who have been tapped to protect the city's 1 million residents. His idea: a community haven.

SUHAYDA: And the community haven concept is to protect a segment of the city to a Category 5 protection. So that in the last 24 hours, those that are in the city and can no longer evacuate could then evacuate within the city to this community haven.

PFLUM: The concept was conceived in the wake of Hurricane Georges, slated to hit New Orleans in the fall of 1998 before unexpectedly changing course.

During Georges, the Superdome stadium was opened up to the public as a refuge, but it was later deemed too small and there were complaints of looting. The community haven project seeks to build a "Great Wall of New Orleans."

SUHAYDA: And it would be essentially a vertical wall with floodgates at key intersections. And in New Orleans, it would encompass about 20 percent of the area of the city.

PFLUM: City planners are also looking at the construction of a mag lev train to help residents get out of the city quickly. And they're looking at doubling the number of highway lanes exiting the city. That would reduce the traffic delays residents experienced during Hurricane Georges. Yet another possible solution: make the existing levees taller.

SUHAYDA: And that would be really one of the best solutions, if we could raise all of the levees around the city such that even a Category 5 would not overtop the levees. Unfortunately, that appears to be too expensive at the present time.

PFLUM: For the time being, New Orleans planners will continue to work to keep the city afloat via its system of underground canals that manage to keep the mighty Mississippi at bay.

(on camera): Local officials do agree on the irony of the situation: The very river that served as the foundation of the Big Easy and of its prominent role in U.S. history may ultimately serve to destroy it.

For CNN "EARTH MATTERS," I'm Mary Pflum in New Orleans

[Grendel9]

Just reinforcing the idea that this city's problems was an old issue long before GWBush came on the scene. Hillary's insistance upon an "independent" investigation is once again going to lead to her husband's administration having egg on its face.

[stuartcr]

So it's not Bush's fault, but Clinton's fault?

[TexasCajun]

I'm sure Hillary can even get Nagin & Blanco to sit on the commission interrogating FEMA personnel.

[johnny7]

HA!

[conservativecorner]

Damn straight BUMP!!

[The G Man]

"During Georges, the Superdome stadium was opened up to the public as a refuge, but it was later deemed too small and there were complaints of looting."

Ay-yai-yai-yai-yai! Oh, Mayor Nagin ... I thin you has some 'splainin to do!

[Wil H]

So it's not Bush's fault, but Clinton's fault?

Yup! He should have sent Jamie Gorelick down there, she is great at erecting walls.

[DallasMike]

Fellow Freepers:

At the suggestion of writer Michelle Malkin last Friday, I have cobbled together a blogsite called Texas Clearinghouse for Katrina Aid to serve as a clearinghouse for refugee efforts in Texas.

Texas is getting more refugees than any other state -- that's fine, we'll take them all -- but we need help providing them with food, clothing, and shelter.

If you are a refugee, you can information that will help you find relief. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can find someone who needs you.

Right now the site mostly covers Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas but I will add various churches, schools, and other charities in Lubbock and Austin tonight. My wife was down at Reunion Arena in Dallas yesterday handing out care packages and spiritually ministering to the refugees as a representative of her employer. She says that the situation is tragic and that there's a lot of work to be done. There are so many children who don't know where their parents are or even if their parents are still alive.

There are a lot of churches and other organizations in Texas that need help in dealing with the problem and I would appreciate it if you would get the word out.

Many thanks,

Michael McCullough

Stingray blogsite