The Drowning of New Orleans: Hurricane Devastation Was Predicted

The death toll from Hurricane Katrina continues to climb dramatically with the mayor of New Orleans estimating that the number of dead in the devastated city could well be in the thousands. Conditions continue to deteriorate after two levees broke, sending water coursing through the streets. An estimated 80 percent of the city - which lies below sea level - is under water, up to 20 feet deep in places with miles and miles of homes swamped. Food and water supplies are dwindling and bodies float in the floodwaters. As the evacuation of the Superdome begins, officials said there was no choice but to abandon the city, perhaps for months.

As the devastation continues to unfold, many people around the country are wondering how a catastrophe of this magnitude could have occurred. Well, some have been warning of such an impending disaster for years. Three years ago, the New Orleans Times-Picayune won journalism awards for an exhaustive five-part series called "Washing Away" which began with the words: "It's only a matter of time before south Louisiana takes a direct hit from a major hurricane. Billions have been spent to protect us, but we grow more vulnerable every day." The newspaper seems to be living its own prophecy. As the hurricane passed but the water continued to rise, the staff of the Times-Picayune was forced to evacuate its downtown headquarters.

* Mark Fischetti, contributing editor of Scientific American. In 2001 he wrote an article titled "The Drowning of New Orleans" that warned only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana could save New Orleans from a catastrophic flood.
* John McQuaid, reporter for the Washington bureau of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He co-authored Washing Away, a major investigative series in 2002 examining the implications of a hurricane like Katrina hitting New Orleans.

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