A large river brimming over every one hundred years, hurricane-related storm surges, breaks in decaying levees and precipitation are very different phenomena in time and space and result in disparate flooding patterns. However, in the giant bowl that is the city of New Orleans, despite how it got there, there is only one way to remove water once it gets in – through working pumps and a lot of backup power.
The commercial power for the Orleans pump stations, produced by Entergy New Orleans, is delivered at 60 cycles. The water board produces its own 25-cycle power that is the primary power source for most pumps. The different cycle power supply dates back to the installation of large pump stations in the city at the beginning of the 20th Century … Since Katrina, several independent engineering organizations have warned that the differing electrical supplies are a major trouble spot in the city’s internal drainage system.
… on Friday, the loss of 60-cycle commercial electricity also knocked out a compressor that increases the pressure of natural gas to operate the water board’s 25-cycle power plant, causing it to shut down, too … Water board officials scrambled to switch to diesel fuel to operate the power plant, but the failure led to most individual pump stations west of the Industrial Canal being knocked out for periods lasting from a few minutes to 45 minutes …
Back in September of 2006, Matt McBride wrote about exactly this pump situation and proposed mobile backup generators for the existing 60 Hz pumps. His rationale: “The cost of of the rental contract would not be huge, relative to the overall cost incurred by loss of pumping capacity during a storm.” He added in a comment, “I agree it would be great to bring the entire 100-year-old infrastructure up to date, but that’s just not going to happen any time soon, especially when one takes a realistic view of the S&WB’s finances.”
Did anyone listen to McBride’s suggestions? What exactly do we not have even today? Yup, you guessed it – pumping capacity. It’s more than the levees, as even the strongest and most durable river and canal levees can hold unwanted water in.
Meanwhile, erosion is discovered on the newly-repaired levees of the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet which may result in tear-on-the-dotted-line damage during a strong storm surge. Based on this datum and other observations, Bob Bea, UC Berkeley professor of engineering, is certain that the city will flood again in the near future. Ray points us to similar coverage in National Geographic with updates on other critical city levees: “The text is a relatively quick read, and the interactive graphics and videos are must-see TV. There are photographs of weaknesses and flaws in the 17th Street, Orleans, London, and MRGO levees and flood walls, and also Duncan Canal in Kenner and Harvey Canal. Video shows the MRGO levees already being eroded from simple rainstorms.”
Regardless of these troublesome finds, observe the rebuttals and skirtings of issue by local Army Corps of Engineers officials:
… Walter O. Baumy Jr., the chief of the engineering division for the New Orleans district of the corps, said the new levees were made with dense, clay-rich soil that would resist erosion. Although the stretches of the St. Bernard levee that were still standing after the storm are composed of more porous soils dredged from the nearby canal, Mr. Baumy said a reinforcing clay layer on top some 10 feet thick would keep the fissures from reaching the weaker soils.
… Dr. Bea, who wrangled with the corps last year about construction standards on the same levee, countered that recent work in the Netherlands suggested that clay-capped levees with a porous core, which are common, were prone to failure in high water.
Aren’t we glad that the New Orleans division of the Corps is up to date on relevant literature and acts accordingly? Between the MWI Pump Debacle and these latest finds, one would think that the Corps is paid not to fix or strengthen a shred of our hurricane protection.
The hopeful few opine that what we have is manmade error that can be fixed by the hands of humans. I would be the first one to agree IF we live in a rational society that works to rectify past mistakes and fortify against future ones. However, as a friend’s startlingly astute eighteen-year-old son recently observed, “The new American way is to take on a problem, do things the wrong way, make a lot of money at it and leave the situation exactly as it was or worse.” It’s not about problem-solving any longer, it’s about the economics of problem-solving. One thing I give the hopeful is empathy – it takes a certain amount of loss of innocence and faith in society to stop following the path to recovery and instead the money trail.
Meanwhile, In Forgotten New Orleans, Life Stirs At The Bottom
Civil society is still torn up here, but older, more primal arrangements are asserting themselves: predator and prey, friends and family, supply and demand. Evil contractors, resourceful businesses and toiling workers are finding niches. People who dream of a better future are trying, fitfully, to create one, while the government they once thought would protect and serve them slumbers on. New Orleans has been slammed into the 19th century, and it’s going to be a long way back.
This city will need a lot more pumps to suck out the tears I cry for those who bravely and lovingly came back home and may have to leave again if another prolonged evacuation comes to pass. For their sake, I hope against hope.
Related:
– Da Po Blog: Should We Be Worried?
– The Times-Picayune: 51% Of New Orleans Is At Or Above Sea Level (to keep the “But The Whole City Is Below Sea Level” wolves at bay during a serious discussion of the real problems)
– The Cunning Realist: “I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes” wherein an Iraqi blogger visits New Orleans and sees stunning similarities to war-torn Baghdad
