Army corp of engineers...are they still in existence. Sand bags?

[bribri16]

Getting sand bags into NO seems like a pretty simple thing for the military to do...but....? Am I wrong here?

[Mass]

1. Apparently, they are working on it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050831/ts_nm/weather_katrina_dc_68;_ylt=AtC..mRtQ3o53V1ZhvW18AsbLisB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

The U.S. military planned to use helicopters to drop 3,000-pound (1,360-kg), gravel-filled sandbags into the breaches, the worst up to 20 feet (6 meter) deep. Authorities were also considering plugging the gap with shipping containers filled with sand.

[Kenroy]

2. Unfortunately

nothing is simple right now in N.O.

It's an active disaster area, and there are extremely compelling competing needs for resources - including snatching people off roofs.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Yes ...

An ACE representative was in attendance at the FEMA press conference today, going over what they were doing and considering doing.

As for sand bags, this is not a long-term solution, or even a viable short-term solution to plugging a levee breech as large as the one near 17th Street Canal, which is partly why the idea has basically been abandoned. It's doubtful it would even have worked at all. As was exemplified by the floods in the Midwest in the 90's, even under favorable conditions, i.e. trying to protect higher ground from rising water, sand bags often fail to prevent flooding and are almost useless to stop it once it has started. The conditions in NO are not favorable at all.

We could use the assistance of some Dutch engineers right about now, I'm thinking.