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Army Corps Accepts 'Blame' For Katrina Levee Failures

Posted by: Abhijeet Chavan

5 June 2006 - 9:00am

In a 6,000-page report, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accepted responsibility for design defects in the levee system that failed during Hurricane Katrina and led to the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans.

"The Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged Thursday that design defects in the levees protecting New Orleans caused the majority of flooding during Hurricane Katrina and that the disaster would almost certainly trigger reforms in how the federal government protected the American public....

The corps released a 6,000-page report written in the couched language of government engineers but which delivered a stunning set of findings about errors made in the design of storm walls and earthen levees that failed during Katrina.

The report found that four major breaches of I-walls, a type of concrete storm wall that sits on an earthen levee, caused 65% of the flooding in the New Orleans area."

Full Story: Army Corps Admits Design Flaws in New Orleans Levees
Source: The Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2006
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