Dave's PA Rental
09-04-2005, 10:28 PM
I think that New Orleans would have been better off if Katrina had been a direct hit, instead of missing to the east. Here is why.
That 17th Street Levee was far enough inland to survive the 25 foot storm surge. But since the center of the storm went a bit to the east of NOLA, the counter-clockwise movement of wind blew across Lake Ponchetrain (sp) in a NW to SE motion...for several hours. This basically caused the water to 'pile up' and press against those levees until they failed.
This was a WORSE than worse-case scenario. People thought that they were in the clear. They didnt realize that the lake was leaning to the south...
That 17th Street Levee was far enough inland to survive the 25 foot storm surge. But since the center of the storm went a bit to the east of NOLA, the counter-clockwise movement of wind blew across Lake Ponchetrain (sp) in a NW to SE motion...for several hours. This basically caused the water to 'pile up' and press against those levees until they failed.
This was a WORSE than worse-case scenario. People thought that they were in the clear. They didnt realize that the lake was leaning to the south...