Rumor of levee dynamite persists

[ECH1969]

On this much, there is general agreement: The destruction of the Lower 9th Ward started with a series of earthshaking explosions.

Preliminary evidence shows shoddy engineering, poor maintenance and politics led to the massive failure of the levee system that was supposed to keep New Orleans dry.

But long before the evidence was pulled together, another theory had taken root, and it probably won't go away any time soon: that the explosions were caused by dynamite set by someone deliberately blowing up the levees.

Andrew Baker, who lost his Tennessee Street home, is not only certain that's what happened, he has a theory as to why: The east side of the Industrial Canal was breached to save the French Quarter, Uptown and the Lower Garden District. "God didn't play a part in this," Baker, 55, said matter-of-factly. "They always do that. They flood the Lower 9."

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1134370689216400.xml&coll=1

[bluestateguy]

1. While I am disinclined to believe this proposition

this theory is an understandable response to the negligent response of government.

[Orrex]

2. I know nothing of the physics of this kind of thing, so here's a question:

Might the "explosion" sound have been produced merely by the shattering of the levee under strain, rather than by a deliberate detonation?

I ask because I know that a frozen lake can make an awful din when it breaks up, so it doesn't seem impossible to me that a levee might do something similar.

Of course, those who live near one probably know a lot better than I do!

Any thoughts?

[baltlib]

3. my biggest problem is

the fact the the 9th ward drains to st Bernard parish, a nice area including the 4 families of mine who are not home, and wont be anytime soon. also why blow it in to the 9th ward, when it would not have ever really done much to the quarter which is higher

[GregW]

4. Let me guess ...

It's the same people who also planted the explosives in the WTC buildings and 'staged' the crash of the jet into the Pentagon.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[goclark]

5. No comment from me, I posted

early on about the Levees and the thread was locked.

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. Not knowing about the NOLA infrastructure, I've wondered if

there may have been some sewer or gas lines running near the levees at the point(s) of explosion. If there were, is it possible that is what exploded with enough force to blow a hole into the levees? :shrug:

[Codeine]

7. Good Lord.

Why must evil and conspiracy be behind every event we experience? Shoddy construction, a poorly planned city, endemic poverty, and a big-ass storm just happened to come together at the same time. Sometimes shit just happens.

[tx_dem41]

8. Self-delete

I stand corrected.

[funkybutt]

9. I don't believe the levees were bombed

I don't doubt that the witnesses heard what sounded like an explosion. Millions of pounds of water breached the levees and the force of that would surely have made a loud sound.

However, I don't really think it helps our case for better protection to be claiming that we were bombed. I've seen no proof that we were. The proof I have seen is that faulty construction, and in my opinion, criminal negligence led to this disaster. The construction that protected us did NOT meet the specifications or guidlines that were required.

Many outsiders don't realize it, but a HUGE area of town that was almost exclusively white upperclass was also devastated. If some unscrupulous group were trying to practice "ethnic clensing" on the african american community, i don't believe this area would have been wiped out. One witness compared this catastrophie to the holocost, and I don't believe that's a fair comparison at all. The death lists I've seen are a mix of white, black, asian, young and old.

The breached areas should and will be excavated to investigate the actual reason for failure. At this point, I'd like to focus our energy on better levee protection instead of sinister conspiracies. There's plenty of criminal fault in the failures without even the mention of a bomb or the unnacceptable federal response.

[wordpix]

12. I agree-: know that estimates are "decades" for levees to be rebuilt

that, according to a repug relative who lives/works in DC and is friendly with BushCo. This relative also lived in NO for many years and still has connections there. I tend to believe him on this.

[funkybutt]

14. If we have Category 3 by next hurricane season

That'll be 2 categories better than the one's we've had for the past decade or so.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Maybe Because That's What Happened The Last Time NOLA Had a Bad Flood

[savemefromdumbya]

11. I suppose one has to keep an open mind?

[Wind Dancer]

13. If real investigations were conducted in this country,

people would have more confidence. I don't know what happened but with the fox guarding the hen-house, we will never find out.

After watching the criminal neglect of our citizens during Katrina, nothing would surprise me. Why were all of those people left without food and water? Why are the contracts going to Cheney's buddies? Why are so many people still being denied governmental assistance? These questions can't be ignored.

If this happened in an affluent area, rescues would have been swift and people wouldn't have been separated from their families and forced to leave without knowing their destination. It's shameful how this entire event was and is being handled.