Are We Prepared For Hurricane Gustav?

A television monitor near the floor of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota shows a radar image of Hurricane Gustav as it bears down on the Louisiana coastline August 31, 2008. Planners have changed the convention agenda as the powerful storm approaches the U.S. with some Louisiana delegates returning to their home state. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Opportunities Missed In Preparing For Gustav -- SciTech Blog (CNN)

If there were a Nobel Prize for “I told you so” it might go to Louisiana State University Professor Ivor van Heerden. He warned of the catastrophic consequences a major hurricane would have on New Orleans long before Hurricane Katrina.

And as Hurricane Gustav approaches, he says there were many lost opportunities to strengthen the region’s defenses in the three years since Katrina and Rita.

Among them:
*state and federal officials could have done a lot more to assess the weak links in the levee system, from New Orleans to Morgan City, Louisiana.
*more of an effort should have been made to repair damaged areas on levees. In many places, he said, there is bare soil, no grass at all on the levees.
*both before and after Katrina, he said the Army Corps of Engineers has not allowed enough outside experts to work with them to make improvements

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