The river levees did not bust during the hurricane. It was the canals that feed the lake rainwater that flooded the city. The Morganza Spillway was built in 1934. Nothing much of anything was in that basin back then. There is an understanding that if you build there, you may one day lose it all. This may be that day. However, if the river was to flow at 20 feet and we had a levee breech here in N.O., it would make Katrina look like a spring shower. Some estimates put up to 40 feet of water in the city in an uncontrolled burst at 20 feet !
There is also a spillway about 20 miles north of N.O. It has been opened 10 times in 50 years...it is open now. It diverts water from the river to the lake and then to the gulf.
Oh well....we should be ok.
Originally posted by bvy:
Interesting. So to keep the levees from bursting (again) they send all this water down the Atchafalaya River basin south to Morgan City. Pick your flood, in other words. Such a precarious topography.
I'm reading that it was only opened once before, back in 1973. It's just trivia though.
Pretty dramatic video. Thanks for posting it. |
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