River levees doing double duty, but differing standards gives feds a break
Taxpayers in three parishes likely to pick up a cost once paid by Army Corps of Engineers.
Category: Environment
Best-ever levee system is here to protect property, not lives, experts warn
Of all the questions being asked about New Orleans’ progress 10 years after the disaster that killed nearly 1,500 residents and clouded its future, the most persistent has been this: Is it safer now? Interviews with storm experts resulted in answers filled with caveats. The best summation: It’s safer for houses, but not necessarily for the people who live in them.
People’s hero, Corps’ villain or both? Investigator’s life upended by Katrina findings
Like many Hurricane Katrina survivors, former Louisiana State University research scientist and instructor Ivor van Heerden sometimes tears up at certain memories. He didn’t lose a house or a family member. He lost his career. That still hurts because it was taken from him by the people he was trying to help.
Deepwater Horizon settlements helped Obama come through with wetlands restoration funding
Louisiana will get almost $8 billion for restoration projects from BP.
Despite Obama’s pledge, no progress on speeding up increased offshore drilling royalties
He said he'd direct it for hurricane protection, but he has since backtracked.
Rebuilt levees don’t meet goal to protect New Orleans against Category 5 hurricane
The levees wouldn't collapse in a powerful hurricane, but storm surge probably would push over the top.
Join us live to discuss whether we’re safer, with flood authority member Paul Kemp
Oceanographer serves on consolidated levee board for the east bank.
Paul Kemp to discuss whether area is safer 10 years after Hurricane Katrina (video)
He'll speak at our Breakfast with the Newsmakers event at 8 a.m. Aug. 20.
Post-Katrina reforms make levee, floodwall inspections a daily job
If local levee boards had followed inspection rules before Hurricane Katrina, they may have known about weaknesses before parts of the flood protection system collapsed in the storm. Now 11 employees work full-time inspecting and testing levees, floodwalls and equipment around New Orleans.
Katrina fact-check: Guesstimate of Katrina’s flooding in New Orleans was correct
For years we've heard that 80 percent of New Orleans flooded in Katrina. Is it true? Yes, if you include flooding from the storm surge and the levee breaks.
