Sandy Rosenthal's Blog, page 7

Columbia Water Center review of Words Whispered in Water

The post Columbia Water Center review of Words Whispered in Water first appeared on Levees.Org.

The post first appeared on Levees.Org.

The post first appeared on Levees.Org.

Levees.org’s Letter is featured in The Advocate

The east breach site of the London Avenue Canal. Photo/Andy Levin

Recently, Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal and lead researcher H.J. Bosworth’s co-written letter was featured in The Advocate. Below is the original slightly longer version that was submitted.

“We closely observed the media reporting by the New Orleans District USACE after its levees broke during Hurricane Katrina. So we’re not surprised to learn from reporter Tristan Baurick that the corps personnel knew for decades of the potential for salt water intrusion as a result of dredging the Mississippi River.“Apparently, now in 2023, there was little infrastructure or plans firmly in place to handle the predicted intrusion. This means that the underwater dam (or sill) must have been constructed at huge expense, along with the miles of temporary flexible pipelines. Emergency construction is always more expensive.“We are suspicious of the corps’ putting the focus on the lack of rain as the culprit in the salt water intrusion crisis.

“We remember clearly how approximately thirty-six hours after the levee failures in 2005, the corps issued its first press release, stating that the agency believed the 17th Street Canal had been overtopped, which caused its collapse. (That claim was immediately proven false by eyewitnesses and later by multiple investigative teams.)

“That corps’ press release ended with this: “The New Orleans District’s 350 miles of hurricane levee were built to withstand a fast-moving Category 3 storm. The fact that Katrina, a category 4-plus hurricane, didn’t cause more damage is a testament to the structural integrity of the hurricane levee protection system.”“The USACE seems to routinely have a cache of ‘explanations’ all written and ready to go. The corps also seems to have a trove of tricks up its sleeve.“A couple of weeks before Levees.org’s kickoff rally, the top Public Affairs officer for the New Orleans district disguised her identity and sent the founder of Levees.org an email using her personal email address.

“I think you should know that many folks in NOLA disagree with your views and have begun to organize in an effort to stop the dissemination of inaccurate information that organizations like yours put out. In our opinion, inciting anger in the residents of this great city does nothing but divide its people and hurt real progress for rebuilding the system.

“She signed it, “Concerned Citizen.”

“This was someone in a position of public trust, disguising their identity, pretending to be an impartial bystander and targeting a community mobilizer sounding the alarm over the corps’ culpability.“Jumping forward to today, this recent explanation of unforeseen drought conditions is only a more recent example of the agency’s standard operating procedure of blaming anyone and anything except itself.”See the letter printed in The Advocate. The post Levees.org’s Letter is featured in The Advocate first appeared on Levees.Org.

Levees.org founder featured on School for Startups Radio show

Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal was recently featured on the School for Startups Radio show.

Rosenthal discusses her formula for gaining the attention of major media in her work unmasking the Army Corps of Engineer’s culpability in the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Attention by major media is not, itself a measure of the value and worth of a fledging nonprofit or grassroots group’s work.

However, articles in major media are a powerful way for a fledging nonprofit or grassroots group to get free outreach for its message. And therefore, should not be dismissed as unimportant.

Listen to the show. 

The post Levees.org founder featured on School for Startups Radio show first appeared on Levees.Org.

Levees.org’s Engineering Students Campaign Featured in National Story

l to r Sandy Rosenthal and HJ Bosworth Jr, P.E.

At the 18th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures in New Orleans, Levees.org held a press conference to kick off a national campaign.

“Engineering schools in the U.S. are not systematically providing instruction to their students about engineering failures and the lessons they teach,” said H.J. Bosworth Jr., P.E., civil engineer and senior member of Levees.org. “That needs to change.”

At the press conference, held at the breach site of the London Avenue Canal in New Orleans, Levees.org detailed its plan.

“We need to create a world where, if engineering schools do not provide instruction on engineering failures then the schools won’t be accredited,” said founder Sandy Rosenthal.

Levees.org revealed a growing list of experts and engineers in support and a list of organizations in support.

The group also announced a manifesto on RallyStarter.org where any citizen can add their name in support.

The site of a major breach event was selected for the press conference because it represents the worst engineering disaster in U.S. history, according to Ray Seed, P.E. co-author of the National Science Foundation-sponsored investigative report of the levee breaches.

See the Associated Press Story

The post Levees.org’s Engineering Students Campaign Featured in National Story first appeared on Levees.Org.

Levees.org to host press conference August 22, 2023 at 10a

l to r. Sandy Rosenthal and HJ Bosworth, Jr., P.E.

Levees.org will hold a press conference marking the 18th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the federal levee failures.

The group will announce its latest campaign.

WHEN: Tuesday August 22, 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: 5000 Warrington Drive (Site of the Levee Exhibit Hall & Garden)
CONTACT: Sandy Rosenthal, Founder, (504) 722-8172

“Engineering schools in the U.S. are not systematically providing instruction to their students about engineering failures and the lessons they teach,” says H.J. Bosworth Jr., P.E., civil engineer and senior member of Levees.org. “That needs to change.”

Levees.org will address this issue in a new campaign.

There will be a TENT for shade and/or rain protection, and a podium for media microphones.The post Levees.org to host press conference August 22, 2023 at 10a first appeared on Levees.Org.

Founder Rosenthal featured on the Neon Jazz show

Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal was recently featured on the Neon Jazz podcast with Joe Dimino.

Rosenthal discusses how her childhood and background prepared her to be a civic mobilizer in her quest to education not just the U.S. but the whole world that the devastation of New Orleans in August 2005 was due to engineering design flaws in the levees built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The post Founder Rosenthal featured on the Neon Jazz show first appeared on Levees.Org.

The Associated Press has issued an alert about the Flooding during Katrina.

The Associated Press (AP) has issued an alert to its reporters all over the world. The alert is a guidance for the precise wording they must use when writing about Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The guidance dictates that when reporters write about the catastrophic flooding during the 2005 storm, they must note that levee failures played a major role.

Most noteworthy are these passages (italicized material is the AP’s):

The late August 2005 hurricane was the deadliest storm to strike the U.S. since 1928 with a death toll that far outweighs any other storm during the modern era of weather forecasting. As of 2022, it was also the costliest storm on record to strike the United States with an inflation-adjusted cost of $186 billion in 2022 dollars. Levee failure played a large part in the destruction in New Orleans, while storm surge was a key factor elsewhere….

… When writing about the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, it is important to note that levee failures played a major role in the devastation in New Orleans. In some stories, that can be as simple as including a phrase about Hurricane Katrina’s catastrophic levee failures and flooding. Some stories may require more detail.

Some basics: In New Orleans, flaws in the design and construction of the federally built levee system led to multiple levee breaches and catastrophic flooding….

This change arose from a conversation that Levees.org initiated with the AP in March of 2022. The AP agreed on the need for a change and issued the change in September 2022.

A levees.org supporter had this to say about the style guide change.

As a retired newspaper reporter I know how important the AP Style Guide is and how difficult it is to get a style guide changed. This is huge and long overdue.
~Kate

Here is the full style guide change. 

The post The Associated Press has issued an alert about the Flooding during Katrina. first appeared on Levees.Org.

Founder Rosenthal invited to comment on Audubon Institute’s deal with Tulane U over public space

Exactly two years ago, founder Sandy Rosenthal dusted off her community rallying skills to pursue an issue of public space.

Rosenthal created a petition decrying a deal between Audubon Nature Institutes (ANI) and Tulane University to build a new tennis complex at the site of ANI’s ten public clay courts in Uptown New Orleans.

From Rosenthal’s viewpoint, this appeared a plan to wrest usage of public space away from the public and give it to a private institution. The plan would reduce the number of clay courts available to the public at large from ten to six.

Furthermore, the members of the public most harmed by the plan would be be the local black community over the age of 50.

Yesterday, the Times-Picayune invited Rosenthal’s comment about the deal which still has not been finalized. She believes the hold up is disagreement between ANI and Tulane over the use of the courts.

The post Founder Rosenthal invited to comment on Audubon Institute’s deal with Tulane U over public space first appeared on Levees.Org.

Founder Rosenthal featured on the Nan McKay show

Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal was recently featured on Nan McKay’s new podcast called Trailblazers Impact.

Rosenthal discusses how she and her group Levees.org took on the organization responsible for the engineering design flaws in New Orleans’ levees –– the US Army Corps of Engineers.

In addition she provided these takeaways:

How to take it upon yourself to fix a problem in your community without fearDon’t be afraid to take on the big guys when fighting for a good course, even when they go after you

You can see the full interview here and information on how to download the podcast. 

The post Founder Rosenthal featured on the Nan McKay show first appeared on Levees.Org.