25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to Read, but Worth the Effort, June 5, 2006
This review is from: The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina--the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist (Hardcover)
Van Heerden is a civil engineer and LSU professor, actively involved in New Orleans disaster planning, and a resident of the New Orleans area. He (and others) had warned about possible deadly consequences prior to Katrina, and probably dwells too much in "The Storm" on those computer models and discussions. Nonetheless, he clearly makes his point that human errors made Katrina much more serious than it could have been.
An early interesting point was that per the Stafford Act of 10/00, once the President declares a national emergency, the federal government is in charge - thus, there should not have been any question about leadership. Another important point is that FEMA staffers refused to consider emergency Army assistance in erecting tent facilities for the displaced and provision of eg. health services - possibly a major benefit.
Van Heerden states that 350 miles of levees protect New Orleans. Those along the Mississippi rise 25 feet above sea level, are 300 feet thick at the base and 100 feet thick at the top - not a source of problems. The rest, however, range from 5 to 18.5 feet above sea level, and involved canals and Lake Ponchatrain. Levee failures totaled 1,050 yards, in total.
Fortunately the La. Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries prepositioned 6 large and 12 smaller boats at the Jackson Barracks of the local National Guard. This enabled them to quickly begin responding after the levee breaks. The Coast Guard's help was also invaluable - rescuing an estimated 6,000 individuals.
Meanwhile, other units of government were hampered by lack of prepositioning, having to communicate by courier, poor initiative, and turf wars with each other. Airmen at a nearby Air Force base played basketball while residents across the street waited in a Jr. High for assistance. FEMA began shipping emergency supplies Friday after the hurricane, compared to Wal-Mart's start on Sunday prior.
Van Heerden points out that wetlands can help absorb a hurricane's storm surge - however, the area seaward of New Orleans had lost over 500,000 acres of wetlands in the last few decades due to pumping out water (making land available for eg. housing), ship channel dredging, and oil/gas production.
After Katrina the Army Corp. of Engineers began cover-up efforts, claiming that the levees failed because water flowed over them. Considerable evidence by objective reviewers, however, has refuted that claim - they simply were inadequate (eg. primarily sheet steel should have gone down 50 - 65 feet below sea level (and the base of the canals) instead of only 15 feet.
Properly fixing the levees would cost an estimated $30 billion; President Bush has proposed $1.5 billion. The fix would include not only levee rebuilding/strengthening but storm surge gates, moving pumps closer to Lake Ponchatrain, and stopping wetland losses.
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting look at what went wrong ;-l, May 22, 2006
This review is from: The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina--the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist (Hardcover)
The author of this book knows his stuff. He is a scientist and co-founder and deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center. He writes about what went wrong and how these same mistakes can be avoided in the future.
It's scary because a premise of the book is the probability that this kind of hurricane WILL happen again. This is a realistic look. While the storm was inevitable, he thinks that obviously if people could have gotten out, so many lives would have been saved, but the problem itself wasn't the actually storm so much as it was the failure of the levys to stay put. In his opinion, what went wrong is mainly that all levels of government didn't believe that this was could happen, so they didn't prepare. They thought this couldn't happen in their lifetime and didn't do the right things. The people in leadership positions should have disaster experience. They should have 'been through the fire' and that that experience is essential to plan.
This is a hard going book, but it's so interesting and insightful and when you read all the details, then it gives you another point of view to think about. I really liked this and know that it's an impartial look at the actuall facts rather than placing totall blame. Let's hope the right people read this well writen book.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sad Truth, July 14, 2006
This review is from: The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina--the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist (Hardcover)
As a former emergency management planner, I found this book to be an excellent analysis of what really went wrong in New Orleans. It is a treatise for government officials to learn what not to do and an outline of what we as citizens should demand from our government leaders. It presents very technical information and scientific analysis in a manner that even an elected official can understand. But, beyond presenting the scientific basis of why New Orleans flooded, it presents an outline of solutions that should and must be considered. It is an great testament to the fact that some issues should be above everyday politics and that some important decisions that a government may be asked to make should be based upon science and not political considerations. This is a must read for every citizen and should be a mandatory read for every elected official.
Dr. Barksdale
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