A preliminary report on the performance of the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina showed there were many breaches in the city's levees.
The report, released Wednesday, was compiled by assessment teams from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the University of California-Berkeley. ASCE assessment team leader Peter Nicholson testified Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs concerning the team's observations.
In prepared testimony, Nicholson said what the assessment teams found in New Orleans was very different than what they had expected.
"Rather than a few breaches through the floodwalls in the city … we found literally dozens of breaches throughout the many miles of levee system," he said.
Although the hurricane had winds near 150 mph, Nicholson said wind damage in New Orleans paled in comparison to the devastation caused by flooding.
The assessment teams recommended, among other things:
— Enactment of a National Levee Inspection and Safety Program modeled on the successful National Dam Safety Program.
— Development be discouraged in the floodplain unless there's a pressing need and adequate protection can be provided.
— Population centers be given a higher level of flood protection than most have.
