If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break,
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well...
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move. Led Zeppelin
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well...
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move. Led Zeppelin
"When the Levee Breaks" was written as a Blue's song following the Great Flood of 1927. Rock star Robert Plant re-worded the song and his rock group Led Zeppelin made the song a hit on their fourth album.
This years song verse comes from Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Three years ago the verse came from New Orleans. Fifteen years ago it was Missouri and Illinois. And so on. Why do levees keep breaking? The title of an article in today's New York Times sums it up well. Call for Change Ignored, Levees Remain Patchy brings out two important issues. 1) Politicians continue to ignore scientists and engineers and 2) one flood control project can save the funding area but be detrimental to other areas.
Levees cost the politicians a lot of their money. Following a flood, levee projects get lots of attention and funding. Unfortunately levee projects take years to build. Levees provide flood protection which is rarely needed, albeit damn well worth every penny when they are needed. The problem is when they are not needed, they are forgotten. Traffic jams and other infrastructural problems happen continuously and the need for flood control is put aside for the "more pressing issues." Politicians take money from levee projects and put into highways, betting another flood will not happen during their tenure. Call it political roulette with George Bush, Kathleen Blanco and now Midwest officials being the latest losers.
Following every flood, we hear the same rhetoric regarding levee failure from scientist and engineers such as levees were poorly constructed and no central control. When polled, most voters believe the Army Corps of Engineers has control. This could not be farther from the truth. Although the Corps has some control of major levees, most are controlled by various local and state agencies. Some are even controlled by land owners. It has long been known some materials are better than others for building levees. In times of haste or waste, who cares?
Take for instance a local farmer who tires of having his bean field flooded out every so often. The farmer decides on his own to build a levee around his land and uses whatever fill materials are close and cheap. This sets the stage in time for two problems. First, the water that no longer floods his land has to go somewhere. Now a lower levee which was once adequate is no longer protecting the folks on the other side. Try filling a saucer to the point it overflows. Now tip one side a little higher. You will notice now higher side no longer floods, but water rushes over the other sides. A second problem may later occur due to the substandard materials used in construction. Lets say fifteen years later, developers buy out the farmer and turn the once large bean field into a mixed residential development. A few years after the land is fully developed, one of those now frequent "500 year floods" occurs. The fact the levee was built un-engineered and with substandard materials was unbeknown to the new residents. The flood waters breach through the substandard materials and cause loss of life and millions of dollars of damage to what was formally a bean field.
At some point in time, hopefully sooner than later, the politicians will quit playing roulette and adequately fund levee construction, then properly manage them. This might not happen, because, sadly, disasters tend to be good for the economy as money is poured into rebuilding into the same area to await the next disaster. Despite the fact lives are lost and individuals finances are ruined politicians like a good economy. Just ask South Louisiana officials how is the economy following Katrina. Then ask flooded New Orleans residents how much of their life savings was lost.
Look for different verses of this song to continue.
This years song verse comes from Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Three years ago the verse came from New Orleans. Fifteen years ago it was Missouri and Illinois. And so on. Why do levees keep breaking? The title of an article in today's New York Times sums it up well. Call for Change Ignored, Levees Remain Patchy brings out two important issues. 1) Politicians continue to ignore scientists and engineers and 2) one flood control project can save the funding area but be detrimental to other areas.
Levees cost the politicians a lot of their money. Following a flood, levee projects get lots of attention and funding. Unfortunately levee projects take years to build. Levees provide flood protection which is rarely needed, albeit damn well worth every penny when they are needed. The problem is when they are not needed, they are forgotten. Traffic jams and other infrastructural problems happen continuously and the need for flood control is put aside for the "more pressing issues." Politicians take money from levee projects and put into highways, betting another flood will not happen during their tenure. Call it political roulette with George Bush, Kathleen Blanco and now Midwest officials being the latest losers.
Following every flood, we hear the same rhetoric regarding levee failure from scientist and engineers such as levees were poorly constructed and no central control. When polled, most voters believe the Army Corps of Engineers has control. This could not be farther from the truth. Although the Corps has some control of major levees, most are controlled by various local and state agencies. Some are even controlled by land owners. It has long been known some materials are better than others for building levees. In times of haste or waste, who cares?
Take for instance a local farmer who tires of having his bean field flooded out every so often. The farmer decides on his own to build a levee around his land and uses whatever fill materials are close and cheap. This sets the stage in time for two problems. First, the water that no longer floods his land has to go somewhere. Now a lower levee which was once adequate is no longer protecting the folks on the other side. Try filling a saucer to the point it overflows. Now tip one side a little higher. You will notice now higher side no longer floods, but water rushes over the other sides. A second problem may later occur due to the substandard materials used in construction. Lets say fifteen years later, developers buy out the farmer and turn the once large bean field into a mixed residential development. A few years after the land is fully developed, one of those now frequent "500 year floods" occurs. The fact the levee was built un-engineered and with substandard materials was unbeknown to the new residents. The flood waters breach through the substandard materials and cause loss of life and millions of dollars of damage to what was formally a bean field.
At some point in time, hopefully sooner than later, the politicians will quit playing roulette and adequately fund levee construction, then properly manage them. This might not happen, because, sadly, disasters tend to be good for the economy as money is poured into rebuilding into the same area to await the next disaster. Despite the fact lives are lost and individuals finances are ruined politicians like a good economy. Just ask South Louisiana officials how is the economy following Katrina. Then ask flooded New Orleans residents how much of their life savings was lost.
Look for different verses of this song to continue.
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