This is the last Katrina-related post ever on this blog. I promise. However, I can't let this go by without mentioning it.
An article on this week's NewScientist.com tells us that the man-made Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (a huge channel built to cut 50+ miles off the trip from the Gulf to the Port of New Orleans) funneled Katrina's storm surge right into St Bernard Parish and the Industrial Canal, thus amplifying the flooding in both areas significantly.
Further, an article on Bloomberg today indicates that "poor levee construction worsened Katrina flooding" in the city.
And, last but not least, an AP article reports that Katrina may have only been a Category 3 storm when it made landfall, instead of the Category 4 it had been reported to be at the time. This is bad news for New Orleans (but probably good news for plaintiff's attorneys) in that the New Orleans levee system was supposed to be able to withstand a Category 3 storm.
As mentioned here and in many other places, Katrina was nowhere near the "Doomsday Scenario" that New Orleans had long feared. The next time could be MUCH worse.
UPDATE: From BoingBoing - here are two articles that appeared in Mother Jones questioning why the Ninth Ward has not been rebuilt. Sorry, dudes. The delay is NOT due to a right-wing conspiracy or gentrification or any other hidden agenda. It's being delayed because Katrina was NOT the worst-case scenario, it will happen again, and next time it will be worse!!
God Almighty. THINK, people!!
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