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HISTORIC FLOOD CONTROL UNDERWAY IN LOUISIANA

HISTORIC FLOOD CONTROL UNDERWAY IN LOUISIANA. A DIFFICULT POLITICAL DECISION WAS MADE TO PREVENT A CATASTROPHE THE OUTCOME IS YET TO BE DETERMINED SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011. Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA.

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HISTORIC FLOOD CONTROL UNDERWAY IN LOUISIANA

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  1. HISTORIC FLOOD CONTROL UNDERWAY IN LOUISIANA A DIFFICULT POLITICAL DECISION WAS MADE TO PREVENT A CATASTROPHE THE OUTCOME IS YET TO BE DETERMINED SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

  2. THE GOAL1) MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY2) PREVENT A CATASTROPHE IN BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS

  3. AFTER URGING BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS, TENS OF THOUSANDS EVACUATE

  4. NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH EVACUATION IS TYPICAL FLOODS GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY HURRICANES TYPHOONS HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR SAVING LIVES, BUT LOW BEMEFIT/COST FOR PROTECTING PROPERTY TSUNAMIS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS WILDFIRES

  5. THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS GRADUALLY OPENED SELECTED SPILLWAYS TO REDUCE PRESSURE ON DOWNSTREAM LEVEES PROTECTING BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS

  6. GOAL OF FLOOD CONTROL: SAVING BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS • Keeping 2011’s flood waters from inundating cities (e.g., New Orleans) and the 11 oil refineries in the New Orleans-to-Baton Rouge region, which have a capacity of 2.5 million barrels a day.

  7. MORGANZA SPILLWAY: CLOSED SINCE 1973

  8. MORGANZA SPILLWAY OPENED; SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011 • The water, which spilled out of a 10-ton steel floodgate, in-undated an estimated 3,000 square miles comprised of small farms and fish camps, likely leaving sites under 6 m (25 ft) of water for 2 months. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/14/national/main20062948.shtml#ixzz1MMkAYO00

  9. MORGANZA SPILLWAY: ONE OF 125 FLOODGATES OPENED; MAY 14TH

  10. MORGANZA SPILLWAY OPENED; SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011 • Opening the Morganza spillway system for the first time since 1973 will flood farm land and rural areas while reducing pressure on the levee system that protects Baton Rouge and New Orleans

  11. NORCO, LA: BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY OPENED; MAY 9TH

  12. BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY • Opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway transferred water to Lake Ponchartrain and reduced the pressure on the levees protecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

  13. NEW ORLEANS: SPILLWAY OPENED MAY 9TH TO SAVE LEVEES

  14. THE WORST CASE FOR OIL REFINERIES IN LOUISIANA • The worst case is for flood waters to inundate the refineries and shut them down for several months, the horrific outcome of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

  15. SHORT-TERM SOLUTION • Controlled release of water that will flood farmland and rural areas instead of cities like New Orleans and the 11 refineries near New Orleans and Baton Rouge is a short-term solution to reduce the risk.

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