Critics say new levees might fail

[brunota2003]

Katrina was no where near NO's worst case, had it hit dead on as a high 4 or 5, then most of LA and some of Mississippi would look like an Andrew repeat...plus the surge would be alot worse IMO

[f5]

at landfall Katrina wasn't worst case but out in the gulf she was a cat 5 with all the models taking the storm over downtown NO as a 5.if it weren't for the dry air there won't be no mardi gras going on at the moment

[Ixolib]

Katrina was no where near NO's worst case, had it hit dead on as a high 4 or 5, then most of LA and some of Mississippi would look like an Andrew repeat...plus the surge would be alot worse IMO

Huh?? An Andrew repeat??? Not following your point???

[brunota2003]

Andrew repeat = way more wind damage with houses completely gone up to about 50ish miles inland (basically what Andrew did all the way across Florida)...then the surge would be higher, as it would have even more time with Cat 5 winds to build up...but this monster would cause lots of damage to the high-rises as well...

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Remember Katrina was much bigger than Andrew too If it had been a five at landfall, or even a high end four, it would have caused the same type of damge, but over a huge area.

[f5]

Remember Katrina was much bigger than Andrew too

how many Andrew's can she hold?

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

I'd say roughly four, maybe five. Though I'm certain someone else here would know better than me.

[Pearl River]

According to all the computer modeling, the worst case scenario for N.O. is coming from the SE and moving inland just west of N.O as a slow moving cat 3. It's a worst case scenario for all of SE LA.

[f5]

According to all the computer modeling, the worst case scenario for N.O. is coming from the SE and moving inland just west of N.O as a slow moving cat 3. It's a worst case scenario for all of SE LA.

imagine the aftermath in that part of the state if Katrina would of came in from SE as a Cat 5 with several hrs of hurricane force winds

[Audrey2Katrina]

According to all the computer modeling, the worst case scenario for N.O. is coming from the SE and moving inland just west of N.O as a slow moving cat 3. It's a worst case scenario for all of SE LA.

imagine the aftermath in that part of the state if Katrina would of came in from SE as a Cat 5 with several hrs of hurricane force winds

Well at least we can take consolation in that most experts claim it is unlikely in the extreme that anything stronger than a 3 could ever strike the north-central GOM--they always weaken before landfall.

As far as the MRGO... IT NEEDS TO GO! That ALONE would be a major step in rebuilding our massive losses in wetlands -- St. Bernard is vanishing below the protection levees thanks to this monstrosity.

A2K

[weatherwindow]

just a couple of observations...as to the "raising" of NO, the post-hurricane galveston project involved raising an area(with a post-hurr population of ~25K), roughly the area of the french quarter, 8 feet. the cost and difficulty of raising all of pre-K NO to sea level(say an average of 14 feet) will be staggering. the galveston seawall, built to 17 feet, stretches ~11 miles. as mentioned earlier, the extent of a effective NO structure would have to be many times that length. while not out of the question, a full scale "galveston" solution encompassing all of pre-K NO seems unlikely...a possible compromise involving a smaller "raised" NO in concert with cat 5 levees, a possible lake floodgate, and effective wetlands restoration may be a long term alternative... i personally dont see any hope of truly effective protection for greater NO for the 2006 season .....rich

[Ixolib]

just a couple of observations...as to the "raising" of NO, the post-hurricane galveston project involved raising an area(with a post-hurr population of ~25K), roughly the area of the french quarter, 8 feet. the cost and difficulty of raising all of pre-K NO to sea level(say an average of 14 feet) will be staggering. the galveston seawall, built to 17 feet, stretches ~11 miles. as mentioned earlier, the extent of a effective NO structure would have to be many times that length. while not out of the question, a full scale "galveston" solution encompassing all of pre-K NO seems unlikely...a possible compromise involving a smaller "raised" NO in concert with cat 5 levees, a possible lake floodgate, and effective wetlands restoration may be a long term alternative... i personally dont see any hope of truly effective protection for greater NO for the 2006 season .....rich

Agreed... And while we're on the topic, I keep seeing reference to "CAT 5" levees - both here and in many other posts. But, as has been proven, one can't say what conditions one CAT 4/5 storm will bring when compared to another CAT 4/5 storm, i.e., Katrina & Charley.

Is it safe to assume that the MOST EXTREME Cat 5 storm "could" bring 40 feet of storm surge + wind driven waves? Or, is 40 feet not high enough?? Too high??

I guess the point is this. In recent history, while using the SS Scale for wind speed is relatively accurate, using it to predict storm surge has - at least - raised several questions, and offered quite a spread in the numbers, i.e., 18 to 25 feet or 22 to 30 feet. When talking surge, 7 or 8 feet is a huge difference as opposed to wind where a 20 MPH spread in speed is negligible

So, how high will a supposed "CAT 5" levee need to be?

[stormcrow]

Build all the leves you want, if they do not restore the barrier islands it will do no long term good.

[Coredesat]

Shouldn't this be in the aftermath section?