Do they have dynamite ready to blow up the levees?

[logybogy]

I'm trying to remember but I recall during Hurricane Andrew when it looked like New Orleans would be destroyed they talked about using dynamie to blow up certain levees to relieve pressure from Orleans parish and get water out of the bowl in the metro area while flooding the lower densely populated areas.

[djtil]

i really doubt it.

[loon]

I remember hearing this also, but I can't find an article to back it up, I thought it was the Corp of Engineers plan, but since I dont have the data, I guess maybe it was just a rumor or internet story...unless someone else has hard facts or some documentation...

cheers,
loon

[logybogy]

I just googled and they do consider it an option...

http://www.nola.com/printer/printer.ssf ... igone.html

It probably will be at least four days after the hurricane before the corps attempts to begin removing water from the city, Combe said. After a 1947 hurricane flooded the east bank, it took several days for the lake to return to its normal average 14-foot depth, slowing efforts to drain floodwaters from Metairie and Kenner.

Pumping won't be an option. Swamped existing pumping systems in Orleans and Jefferson will be useless. Pumps can be brought in, but their capacity is limited.

"If one goes to construction equipment rental firms, you can rent pumps with a capacity of 6,000 to 8,000 gallons a minute, but that's just not enough capacity," Combe said. "After Betsy the corps employed six dredges with a combined capacity of 243,000 gallons per minute. It would take 44 hours to drain a half-inch of water from the New Orleans metro area that way."

The most likely alternative is simply blowing holes in the levees or widening existing breaches. Breaches in the levee totaling a half mile would allow the water to drain in one day, Combe said. With a more modest effort, totaling 100 feet of openings, draining would take four weeks. If they do dynamite the levees, officials must also weigh the risk of another hurricane hitting in the short term against the urgency of getting the water out.

[Amanzi]

http://www.nola.com/washingaway/thebigone_2.html
http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/ceonl ... 3feat.html

I found these two articles very interesting reading. The first link does mention using dynamite!

[betsysurvivor]

Logy Bogy,

Friends who lived in Chalmette the area that went underwater during Betsy have sworn to me they heard the levee blow. They believe the city blew the levee to save the French Quarter. After Betsy, my dad went down there in a boat to look for relatives, he described it as "the most horrible thing he had ever seen". It's a scary thought but not beyond the realm of possibility. If some areas must be sarificed for others, lets pray everyone, in the less populated areas of SE LA, has left.