Engineers Doubt Big Easy Levees

AP
August 26, 2006



NEW ORLEANS -- The head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conceded Saturday that despite aggressive efforts to repair the levee system in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, it was unclear whether it could hold up to a sizable hurricane this year.

Lt. General Carl Strock, the commander of the Corps, said the agency was carefully tracking Tropical Storm Ernesto, which was spinning in the Caribbean and projected to reach hurricane strength by Tuesday.

He was confident the Corps had done all it could to repair and reinforce 220 miles of levee walls, but he conceded he couldn't be sure whether the system would withstand Ernesto if reached Category 3 status and struck near New Orleans, as Katrina did Aug. 29, 2005.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who appeared at a news conference with Strock, said her office was carefully watching the storm and would order evacuations it they became necessary.

She said that although she is not happy with the current strength of the levee system, she believes as much work as possible was done in the year since Katrina.

It was too soon Saturday to predict whether Ernesto would hit the United States, said Michael Brennan, a meteorologist with the hurricane center in Miami.