Will the Levees hold?

[malaise]

24. And the rain will not be stopping for some time

Serious problems
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/29/hurricane-isaac-louisiana-levee-flood
<snip>
Low-lying areas in south-east Louisiana faced serious flooding on Wednesday as Hurricane Isaac began to slowly move inland and towards New Orleans.

After making landfall on Tuesday night in extreme south-eastern Louisiana, Isaac remained stationary for several hours, unleashing 80mph winds on a sparsely populated neck of land that stretches into the Gulf of Mexico. Early on Wednesday it started moving towards New Orleans at around eight miles an hour – exactly seven years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Floodwater has already lapped over an 18-mile (29km) stretch of the levee along the Mississippi river in Plaquemines Parish, south-east of the city, threatening serious flooding.

There were reports of four-to-nine feet of water in the streets, houses flooded and perilous attempts to flee. Sheriffs' deputies made house-to-house visits looking for residents who had remained after an evacuation order.