For the second time within a one month time span, New Orleans is flooding. This morning, levees that were breached by Hurricane Katrina began to fail again as tropical force winds pushed a storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) and into the Industrial Canal.
Authorities can only watch helplessly as water pours into sections of the city that had just been pumped dry several days ago. Officials expect the floodwaters to continue to rise to the same devasting levels of Hurricane Katrina.
Undoubtedly, the combined flooding of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will rekindle debate regarding whether the MRGO should be closed permanently. Storms surges from the MRGO and the Industrial Canal have been a problem for decades and are one of the primary reasons why local residents have fought plans by the US Army Corps of Engineers to enlarge the Industrial Canal and deepen the MRGO.
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