 For years, everyone has realized that New Orleans is a sinking city. Recent research indicates that parts of the city may in fact be sinking even at a faster rate that scientists originally surmised. The rapid sinking in certain areas of New Orleans may help to explain, in part, why some of the levees failed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The sinking issue naturally raises serious issues for the future. The research regarding the sinking of New Orleans was reported in the journal "Nature" and is based on new satellite radar data for the three years before Katrina struck the Louisiana city. The data demonstrate that some parts of the are sinking four or five times faster than other areas. Experts indicate that this is a deadly proposition. Lead author Tim Dixon, a University of Miami geophysicist, indicated that the low lying areas are death traps. He stated that he does not believe these areas should be rebuilt. He said that the blame for this sinking phenomenon includes overdevelopment, drainage issues and naturally occuring seismic shifts. Historically, scientists estimated that New Orleans was sinking at the rate of 1/5 of an inch per year. The new data, based on 150,000 measurements (as opposed to 100 previously) finds that about 10 to 20 percent of the ciry is sinking at the rate of 1 inch per year. As the ground continues to sink, protection from levees fails because they were not constructed to compensate for the sinking itself. Gene Pawlik, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, indicated that the situation certainly is an engineering challenge. |
