Al Naomi Quotations

The point is to eliminate that storm-surge threat with one of these plans. The philosophy of what we do during a hurricane would change. We could spend more time protecting our homes and less time trying to get out of the city in these desperate evacuations.

We're going to look at both alternatives and maybe some other alternatives too while we're at it to see what the best way is to execute that protection.

If we get funded to the level (Dutch engineers) get funded and have the national backing they have, we're going to do some fantastic things. There's nothing magical about what they do.

I can't go above it by law. That's what I am authorized to do. Anything above that means I have to spend money that Congress specifically authorizes for that purpose. Only then we can go build it. It's not simple.

We just have to define the risk and the probability of that actually happening.

We can't even get in there to have a chance to look at that and see the condition of the infrastructure.

There's no upper limit to category-5, so we're looking at the highest level, the mid-range level, and lower level, maybe like a Katrina-type storm.

The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. If we don't get the money fast enough to raise them, then we can't stay ahead of the settlement. The problem is the federal funds have dried up.

As I remember it the worst of the storm had passed when we got word the floodwall had collapsed. It could have been when we were experiencing westerly winds in the aftermath of the storm, which would have been pushing water against it.

As I remember it, the worst of the storm had passed when we got word the floodwall had collapsed. It could have been when we were experiencing westerly winds in the aftermath of the storm, which would have been pushing water against it.

There's a possibility that we wouldn't do anything out here. That, maybe, we would just keep Category-5 protection around the city. I know that they want to do what they can to protect themselves and I certainly would encourage them to do that.

It's a right-of-way issue. Usually, there are homes right up against the canal. You have to relocate five miles of homes (to build a levee), or you can build a floodwall.

It's possible to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane. To do nothing is tantamount to negligence.

It's not a significant decrease but it's not rising any more. It will still take a while to get the water out of the city. It's a lot of chaos right now.

The water does circulate out of the basin eventually. But it depends a lot on meteorological conditions, which we really don't have much control or much knowledge of, at least not here.

They did not contribute to the flooding of the city.

If you don't install some type of substantial hurricane protection along the Gulf coast it's going to be very hard to re-assure people. There were some very sound military and economic reasons for the city to be where it was. Now the policy-makers have to decide whether those reasons are enough to keep it there.

A levee failure might be more gradual than with a floodwall. It means you may have flooded a little slower.