Lessons Learned:
The levee failure that resulted form Hurricane Katrina was a very heart-breaking disaster in US history, and many lessons were learned in the aftermath. Historically, society was not as aware of the broad spectrum of consequences from a natural disaster, therefore engineers did not have to address as many concerns. Now, engineers are taking more of a precautionary and overall world view when developing plans. They can no longer just develop a plan, but also must focus on important concepts such as public health, welfare and the safety of all.
Engineers as a whole now are taking the approach of addressing and better understanding the risks involved, along with the safety measures that must be in place. After this disaster, many more companies are looking at how to re-evaluate flood protection systems to make sure they are properly and safety designed. The last lesson learned is that the government must stress the necessity of better engineering designs and quality in all fields of engineering. As with anyone, even the best engineers can make mistakes.
Engineers as a whole now are taking the approach of addressing and better understanding the risks involved, along with the safety measures that must be in place. After this disaster, many more companies are looking at how to re-evaluate flood protection systems to make sure they are properly and safety designed. The last lesson learned is that the government must stress the necessity of better engineering designs and quality in all fields of engineering. As with anyone, even the best engineers can make mistakes.
Prevention:
To say this failure of the levees could have been prevented might not be accurate. There will always be questions about what if the hurricane had never hit or would the levee still have failed in the future. However, it is possible that the engineers in charge had no idea inadequate design or incomplete and poor construction, due to insufficient funds, were so significant. With more engineers working on the designs and better funding, there might have been a wider variety of professional opinions with more options and resources available, thus making the levee more capable of resisting storms in the future.