Paul -
New Orleans is a act of God.
Uhhh, sorry, wrong answer. KATRINA was an act of God. The failure of the levees has been shown by engineering studies to have been a (non-)act of Man. The consensus of the report is as follows:
1. USA's laws - including several "Waterways" acts - give jurisdiction and responsibility to the US Government for construction and maintenance of flood control structures along major navigable waterways and direct tributaries. The jurisdiction extends to flood control structures whose overflow empties into the navigable waterways. Therefore, the N'Awlins flood-control canals, which emptied into the Mississippi River, Lake Ponchartrain, and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (short name: Mr. GO) all fall under federal jurisdiction.
2. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the specific part of the US Government onto which this responsibility falls. They are responsible for construction, inspection, and maintenance of such structures, including levees that enclose the "outfall" canals - as we call them here.
3. A team of engineers examined the levees that were breached. Their conclusion was that the Corps had failed in their duty to inspect the levees during construction and had subsequently failed after construction to keep up meaningful examination. Had either of these steps been done, the sub-standard materials used in construction of certain parts of those levees might have been detected in time to do some reinforcement. But that did not happen.
4. As a result, when the water in the canals rose due to Katrina, Bernoulli's Laws took over. The flow in the canal became faster and the pressure at the bottom of the canal got higher. Eventually there was an undercutting that led to the catastrophic failure of those levees. And in the three or four places where that occurred, the same reason was found each time. Negligence by the A C of E in their oversight duties.
So, I'll agree that Katrina was an act of God. But what happened to N'Awlins was an act of men. Money-grubbing, profit-seeking, short-sighted, corner-cutting men who used cheaper materials than required for the job just so they could make a buck. Lazy men in cushy government jobs who went through the motions of inspection but who were just drawing a paycheck for showing up, essentially. Corrupt men in office who approved the contracts for their friends to get some work via a bid for public contract that was not truly responsive because of the inclusion of sub-standard materials.
Pardon me if I get emotional. Having water destroy the bottom half of your house and take with it years - or lifetimes - of memories... this is not a pleasant event to have in one's life. I talk tough sometimes, but this is the only situation where I might actually act on my emotions rather than my logic. There are certain parties who need to be given a public treatment we haven't seen in years - tar and feathers followed by ridiing out of town on a rail, carried by an angry mob.
