Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal Declares State of Emergency - Hurricane Gustav

According to a Fox News story, Mayor Ray Nagin left the Democratic National Convention in Denver early to prepare for a potential crisis. 3,000 National Guard troops are currently on standby.

Government officials in New Orleans and Louisiana are obviously concerned about a repeat of the Katrina disaster. There are plans to evacuate New Orleans should Gustav approach as a category 3 or stronger Hurricane within 60 hours of landfall.

Preparations are in progress to move 30,000 people and 8,000 have already signed up for transportation.

Much of the concern has to do with the progress and quality of the rebuilt infrastructure. There is some concern that the new levees and floodgates have not yet been tested, and if they fail, a new flood will wipe out areas that are just now getting rebuilt. The new levees were only designed to withstand a storm as strong as Katrina. If Gustav should hit with any more intensity than Katrina there could be a real problem.

A Washington post story from March of 2006 warns that the levees were rebuilt very quickly and shortcuts were used extensively. In addition, portions of the levee system that were not destroyed by Katrina, but damaged, were largely omitted from rebuilding.

According to that same story, the soil in and around New Orleans is very weak, and the levees built on them may breach. Reporters have found cracks in some of the structures. To properly construct earthen levees takes years to allow the soil to settle properly. If shortcuts are used and the soil does not settle properly, the levees will be weaker than design specifications.

There is also an organization that is circulating a petition to rebuild the entire levee system to withstand a category 5 hurricane. Their web site lists numerous good economic reasons to protect New Orleans from hurricanes and floods. They also state other projects that the US Government is paying for that cost more that upgrading the levee system. This organization recognizes that the levees are bound to fail at some time in the future if they are only rebuilt to pre-Katrina standards.

We should all know in about a week the status of the levee system in New Orleans. The storm will either hit or miss New Orleans. The storm will make landfall, but no one knows at what category. Finally, the levees in New Orleans will either hold or fail. We will know more in a week.