Army Corps Should not be Blamed for Katrina, Bastardi Says
Posted 2009-11-20
A recent court ruling faults the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the flooding of New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina-- what AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologi
By Carly
Porter
AccuWeather.com
A recent court ruling faults the
United States Army Corps of Engineers for the flooding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina-- what AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Joe
Bastardi said is not the only cause.
A federal judge ruled that the Army Corps is liable for the lack of long-term planning and maintenance of a navigation channel that caused levee
failure for New Orleans.
Bastardi said that the location of the city is also a reason for the tremendous damage of Katrina, which he described as "...not even a full frontal
assault, but a pincer movement that spared the city prime devastation."
Hurricane Katrina caused a 9-12 ft. storm surge for the New Orleans area when it made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.
"You build a city near or under sea level, and surround it with water that can support Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, what do you expect to happen?"
Bastardi said.
The lack of awareness among locals in New Orleans about long-past devastating storms also played a part.
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"Most of the people there did not understand what was going to happen with Katrina because they had forgotten Betsy and Camille the category 5," said
Bastardi.
The ruling will cause the US government to pay the majority of the billions of dollars of damage expenses for Katrina.
Bastardi also pointed out that before Katrina, the Army Corp received praise for their maintenance of the shipping channel.
"Since we are going to "blame" them for Katrina," said Bastardi, "let us also say that up until Katrina, they did a good enough job with that
navigation channel to help bring more commerce to New Orleans."
The Army Corps has yet to comment about the Wednesday ruling and is expected to appeal.
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