Between Logos and Eros: New Orleans' Confrontation with Modernity Page: 24
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Post-Katrina investigative reports all agree that the Greater New Orleans
Hurricane Protection System of levees, flood walls, etc. did not function like a system.
According to the Final Report of the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force,
"The hurricane protection system in New Orleans and southeast Louisiana was a system
in name only. The system's performance was compromised by the incompleteness of the
system, inconsistency in levels of protection, and the lack of redundancy. Incomplete
sections of the system resulted in sections with lower protective elevations or transitions
between types and levels of protection that were weak spots. Hurricane protection is what
is known as a series system, meaning the failure of the weakest component causes the
failure of the system. Inconsistent levels of protection were caused by differences in the
quality of materials used in levees, differences in the conservativeness of floodwall
designs, and variations in structure protective elevations due to subsidence and
construction below the design intent (due to error in interpretation of vertical elevation
datum information). Systems also need redundancy, a second tier of protection to help
compensate for the potential failure of the first tier. Pumping is a form of redundancy;
however, the pumping stations are not designed to operate in major hurricane conditions
nor are they part of the hurricane protection system" (Link 2006).
The storm surge caused 53 levee breaches in metropolitan New Orleans. 3 major
levee breaches occurred at the Industrial Canal; 2 at the 17th Street Canal; and 2 at the
London Avenue Canal. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal ("MR-GO") breached
its levees in approximately 20 places. About 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded for24
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Moore, Erin Christine. Between Logos and Eros: New Orleans' Confrontation with Modernity, thesis, May 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6073/m1/29/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .