READING ASSIGNMENT and REPORT COMMUNICATING RISK-POST KATRINA BY PETE CALI SUMMARY

This figure illustrates the construction of Levee, subsequent development, and Katrina flood area in New Orleans, 19002005. In 2005, New Orleans faced a great disaster of its times. The hurricane hit the city and destroyed almost everything. The massive hurricane attacked the city and its outskirts as well. The

headlines went on air on every news channel that National Weather Services have forecasted that hurricane is about to hit the city and evacuation is necessary to save lives of the people. The evacuation process couldnt complete properly and after the hurricane attack only 37% of the people survived in the city. The main reasons of the failure of the mechanism are the construction of Levee, inappropriate design of Levee, lack of communication between management and public and lots of other societal, environmental etc. factors are responsible for it. The main out of these all is the levee failure. It was poorly constructed with substandard material like soil and sand that could not bear the water load. The engineering design was not able to bear the load of waves and they did not even test the wave load artificially after levees construction. The levee was not able to control the water flow and manage its release in the proper direction. The levees height was small according to the required standard which is 100 meters normally. After the failure, the plan was given by the federal government to reconstruct the city and its infrastructure properly.

After the failure of the mechanism, the above mentioned plan was given to reconstruct the city to its original condition. This plan indicated that 8 to 11 years will be required to build the city again with all its facilities. Obviously, a heavy grant and aid is needed for that which is given by the neighboring countries. Three further themes were given by speaker and these were: Effectively implement a comprehensive system approach Communication Reliable public service professionalism The purposes of these themes were to rehabilitate the state to its prior condition.

READING ASSIGNMENT and REPORT COMMUNICATING RISK-POST KATRINA BY PETE CALI Questions: 1. What was the research on current engineering issues at the time of design in 1960's and after Katrina's damage? Itemize your answer and do the required research. [9 points] Solution: There are four propositions that have resulted with respect to Katrinas damage to the city. These four issues are the studied and seen with the help of detailed analysis of pre and post Katrinas damage to the society, human resources, environment and infrastructure of the city. The first issue addresses the inefficiency of human resource to cope against the catastrophe. The second issue is about planning of reconstruction that has been studied so far to restore the city to its pre-look. The third addresses the conflicting facts that have been emerged as a result of reconstruction plan. The last is about recovery of the city to its posterior condition

accelerating demographic, economic, social, and political trends and more about the prevention of tragedies in future.

2. Were any alternate solutions evaluated at the time of levee design [in the 1960's]? Suggest the possible alternate solutions that may have been also considered including, engineering and possible social, environmental and political costs at the state level and the federal level. [provide bibliography if you researched the topic] [9 points] Solution: None of the solutions were developed except levee that time in 1960s to fix the problems. Uncertainties always come with destructing affects and it was a bigger loss that the government has not taken any step except levee construction to avoid the problem. It is the sole responsibility of the state to look for solutions to protect their people. The engineers in the era of 1960s were not advanced as much as they are now. This was a big problem that has been a hurdle to prevent the catastrophe that time. Now, the engineers are updated and latest technology has revolutionized the engineering industry. The design failure of levee in Katrinas hurricane could be fixed if the infrastructure and maintenance department would have given a heed to it. Alternatively, government must spare budgets and finances to upgrade the infrastructure of levees design so that it may be enough to handle the catastrophic events.

3. Explicitly describe how contemporary issues such as environmental, sustainability, globalization, etc., impacted the selected engineering solution of levees. Were design engineers required to consider these issues in the 1960's? [9 points] Solution: Engineering is the main problem in the design of levee. The infrastructure of levee was not properly maintained and fixed timely. The environmental issues resulted in the mismanagement of the casualties. It was considered that the present levee will be enough to bear the pressure of the waves and hurricane but it was wrong. Keeping in mind the usage of modern

technology, this engineering fault could be removed. The blame goes to the federal government who did not restrict the people to take preventive measure and devise guidelines for safety. Design engineers definitely needed to consider these issues then and now. 4. Would you explain why thousands did not evacuate New Orleans when they knew that a direct hit from a Category 4 hurricane will flood the city? If you are advised by the Weather Service to evacuate your residence in Miami- Dade County, would you obey it? Why or why not? [9 points] Solution: The breaking news on all TV channels and other media sources have made the people aware of the fact that the deadly hurricane is about to hit the city and the safety lies in evacuation. Thousands of people were still unable to leave the city and the reason was their inability not unwillingness. The media has highlighted a lot that thousands of people were unable to evacuate from the city and this can cause a serious damage to their lives. Although, people have started moving out of the city since, the news was on air that a devastating hurricane is about to hit the city. Definitely, if someone is advised or notified by Weather Service to evacuate your residence in Miami- Dade County than it has to be followed. The reason is clear that life is important to everyone. Everyone has the right to be aware of the natural disasters in time and prevent their lives from exposed to deaths. If the national weather services have warned the public to leave the city then it is because of some forecasting that have been done. There has to be a strong background behind taking a huge decision to warn the public to leave their homes and take shelter somewhere else. The purpose is clear that our lives are responsibility our government and if they asked to do something then it has to be given a heed.

5. Would you be willing to support the cost of rebuilding New Orleans after reading some facts about the damage from Katrina [ please, justify your answer] [9 points] Solution:

The above figure shows the reconstruction plan for a year. It will take 11 months probably to reconstruct the city to its original condition. This plan is the general guideline of 1 year restoration plan. Definitely, the cost of rebuilding New Orleans is high but it has to be done for safer life in the city. Although, the foreign grant and neighboring countries aid will be required to fulfill the requirements of reconstruction, so one thinks a lot before doing anything. But it is necessary for the revival of life in the city that this reconstruction must be acted upon. The solid lines in the figure show the sequence and time frame of reconstruction plan after the damage in the city. The dashed lines show the emergency time frame of 6 weeks and restoration duration of 45 weeks and magnified 10 times experience of reconstruction. If the plan is followed and acted upon honestly, then 8 to 11 years will be required to rebuild the city to its original look. The cost is no doubt a lot but this step has to be taken.

6. What are the types of information used to determine the appropriate levee height? [9 points] Solution: The levee is used to protect against the hurricane. There are three most considerable features of Levee including as follows: Retain: this helps in retaining the water of the flood so that the inundation may not spread to the area and cause damage to the public. It temporarily stores the water so that it should not be flooded in the area of housing societies or commercial areas. Channel: the second function that has to be kept in mind while building artificial levee is to change the track of the flooded water so that it may not spread out in the local area damaging human lives and infrastructure of the city or vicinity. Control release: the last function of the levee is to have a controlled release of massive water into specified location so that the water is handled properly. The control release is also very dangerous because malfunctioning in that can result in a severe loss of lives. These three things are very much important to consider while maintaining the levee height and it should be 100 meters high than the set level to prevent tragedies of hurricane.

7. Describe the failure mechanisms used to design the sheet pile I-floodwall Is it possible to define all possible failure mechanisms? Why or Why not?[9 points] Solution: It was an engineering and structural failure of the test that resulted in the severe hurricane to the state. The load test was not conducted properly. Full scale load test was unable to be conducted with the flood wall and levee. Due to this negligence, the failure of the mechanism resulted in the loss of billions of lives. The floodwalls were tested only by the water filled till top level and did not include the wave speed and overtopping conditions

in the test. This was merely a failure of mechanism that flood wall was not tested with reference to the speed of waves. It was somehow true as well that all possible failure mechanisms are hard to explain because it requires continuous research on engineering side, societal factors, environmental conditions and other issues. Due to emergence of so many issues, it is hard to consider each possible casue of failures. 8. Is it possible to effectively communicate risk and reliability associated with cost to the people of New Orleans? Why or why not? [9 points] Solution: Yes, it is cent percent possible to get effective results by communicating the risk to the public. Nowadays, the democratic approach can result in building of many useful ideas. If the public will be communicated about risks properly, then lots of saving strategies can be devised from them. It is possible to effectively communicate risk and reliability associated with cost to the people of New Orleans because it helps in the devise of useful ideas from their side. The educated public can take so many preventive measures in advance in order to save life and infrastructure of the city. 9. Are you afraid to communicate to the public that reliability of any building structure is lower than, say, 99.7% and that the probability of failure of a geotechnical structure is greater than 0.001? Would these values make the public happy? Why or why not? [9 points] Solution: Definitely, public will not be happy even if the chances of failure are .0001 percent. The public of any government is dependent on them for their safety but the notable fact over here is that this technical term is hard to understand by the public. If the figures are communicated this way, then the margins of understanding are low. The public will be upset if they came to know that the building structure of the state we are residing is not 100% fit. Storms will continue to surprise the nation so precautions need to be taken and public must be aware of facts and figures.

10. Describe the formal procedure adopted by the Corps of Engineers to investigate the scientific and engineering issues involved in the failure of levees caused by Katrina wind and water forces. [9 points] Solution: The main reason of failure in the devastating attack of hurricane is the low quality soil and sand used in the construction of levee. The following procedure adopted to figure out the issue: Experiment of soil: With the help of soil test, it was clear that poor quality soil and sand was used. Although, in some parts of levee, the soil was of good quality. It indicates that maintenance error. At maintenance time, poor quality sand and soil was used. Infrastructure was levee was checked: The infrastructure was not maintained as it should be. The levee was not able to bear the load of wave speed and that is why a severe hurricane flooded the whole city and resulted in big loss. The load test was conducted: When the load test was conducted, the levee was not fit for the load to bear. This procedure resulted in the finding of errors and projection report was made to fill the gaps.