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300 Years of flooding


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St. Bernard Parish 1927
St. Bernard Parish 1927
New Orleans floods. People adapt to the flooding, prepare for it, resist it and endure it. Initially the main threat was the river, and the floods came almost every year. In time people found ways to resist the river.

It took 200 years, but by 1930 the Corps had a working solution to river flooding. Levees, spillways and dredging offer enough options to keep the river out of the city. The threat is not gone. In 1997 and again in 2011, when near Project Floods filled the river to within a few feet of the top of the levee and river traffic had to be restricted, there was still enough control in the system that nothing got flooded. We'll be able to control the river as long as we are vigilant or until we make a mistake and then there will be hell to pay.

The controls we put in place changed the natural balance. More people moved into to lower lying areas, and without regular flooding the landscape is changing. The marsh is dying and the earth is settling. Now the sea and sometimes the sky are threats, but the river is still there and we can never forget the river.


Nova records the struggle

  • 1893 Cheniere Caminada : The town of Caminadaville was wiped out by a Category 2 Hurricane on October 1, 1893. :: Continue reading...
  • Atchafalaya River : An old lobe of the Mississippi River last active about 1,000 years ago, :: Continue reading...
  • Bonnet Carre Spillway : The spillway is the city's last line of defense. :: Continue reading...
  • Flood Risk 2007 : Here_is_the_2007 risk assessment by the Corps. :: Continue reading...
  • Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW) : The Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW) :: Continue reading...
  • Hurricane Flooding : Hurricanes blast the city every few decades. Big ones hit somewhere on :: Continue reading...
  • Industrial Canal : The locks at the Industrial Canal provide river traffic access to the :: Continue reading...
  • Rainfall induced flooding : Some call it "Liquid Sunshine." :: Continue reading...
  • River Flooding : From 1700-1800 the battle against the river was locally orchestrated :: Continue reading...
  • SELA - The Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project : :: Continue reading...
  • The Fires : Flooding isn't the only disaster to reach New Orleans. Fire has been a frequent foe as well and has only been kept reliably in check for the past hundred years. :: Continue reading...
  • What is the flood protection plan? : Post Katrina the Corps has been jumping through hoops to find a way to protect New Orleans. :: Continue reading...

  • Dynamiting the levee at Caernavon - 1927
    Dynamiting the levee at Caernavon - 1927

    And the beat goes on. It is highly likely the city will flood in the future. And it is likely the future flood will be different from past flooding.

    The propensity of the leadership to fight the "last war" and dole out funds in a piecemeal and halting fashion suggests that comprehensive action will not be taken. Somewhere around $40 billion is needed over the next 25 years to fund comprehensive repairs to the wetlands and build a new generation of flood control structures that can give the city a fighting chance against storms in the future.

    In the meantime, building elevated and wind storm resistant structures on high ground while abandoning slab on ground structures and low lying or rapidly sinking ground is the only sensible construction approach in the New Orleans area. FEMA elevation guidelines which assume the levees will work are grossly insufficient. The insurance companies can see the disconnect and rates are rising while availability is dropping. The politically unpalatable depopulation and densification of Orleans is continuing unabated. Low lying Jefferson and the entire westbank remains as vulnerable as ever.
    10,000 Years at the Mouth of the River Climate


    Created : 7/1/2006 3:53:36 AM Updated: 7/15/2011 8:07:52 AM

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