When the levee breaks

[JustinKennith]

plugging a natural waterflow while the water is moving is nearly impossible even if you planned it

[nolobede]

Ok, so this demonstrates an idea. But offers no engineering details as to what, materials, specs, limitations. Theory vs practice. So what?

[guitargod57chevy]

Who else came here because they thought this was Led Zeppelins music...

[SmellyHamProductions]

@guitargod57chevy

you got that!

[WillOfficial94]

i thought this was the led Zeppelin song

[Snowwie88]

This will never work, because you can not place those poles with the use of helicopters in raging waters.

[bogzdodge]

Chicken Little tells us to conserve water .

[jsmithers87]

Is that a huge army tampon?

[xBLACKB1RD]

kim, KIM!!! Why don't you like me?

[renatobh26]

i just think in led zeppelin

[Renegade23456]

See now in canada the water would freeze before it got to us ;)

[DMAN7587]

@Renegade23456  Haha good one! sorry im just wondering wasnt there a hurricane in canda not that long ago?

[brandonisawesome11]

@Renegade23456 come on its not that cold lol

[bacala777]

When the levee breaks by led zeppelin needs to be the audio for this video

[TheVikingwolf]

Great plan! Now tell me how they're gonna get choppers to do precision flying in the high winds that are certain during a hurricane......by the time the wind dies down, the damage will be done. Great plan, I salute you. Dumbasses.

[trevwagner094]

how many people thought it was a led zeppelin song with a clever decription?

[TheSleepySurprise]

see i went to this video hoping it was a led zepplin song but ..ok

[shtfuk666]

no way, another terrible idea from the feds

[porn1978]

shit makes nooooooo sense

[terrorfalc]

Hey just flying ma chopperz in cat 5 hurricanes, yo.

[dsm4ever09]

@terrorfalc lol i know right?? fuckin ratards

[lareelovesyou]

what the hell was that white shit they put in the water

[mtbboy313]

Inflatable dam.

Looks crappy though.

I dont think the design was thought through very well

[holybelief]

poop?

[bds10181978]

freedom isnt free at all.

[Thegamer5150]

pretty cool how long will it last a week or 2

[thnkredd]

To those saying that everyone should leave N.O. - get a clue. Tell people in Cali to get out because of the wild fires and earth quakes. Tell farmers in the mid-west to stop growing their crops because of the flooding/tornadoes. Tell people from up north to move because of the snow storms. Tell people in the north west to move because of the rain/depression/suicide rate. No matter where you go, there's going to be SOMETHING. At least with hurricanes there's a warning.

[cahuila]

yeah, that is true... but even with a warning, people are still stupid enough to stay... and people saying levees are "blown up" your stupid... go have dinner with the people that think the government blow up the world trade centers... maybe then you will find someone stupider then you...

[tigerfanfanatic72]

@thnkredd Which no one listened to the warning. And I live in New Orleans just to let you know.

[thnkredd]

This is a fairly decent idea. Helicopters do fly in hurricanes. It's part of what the Coast Guard does for a living. This is actually a pretty decent idea. That would sure as heck beat out dropping hundreds of sand bags - this seems as if it might be a little faster.

[deathclockmania]

The levees where planned to wipe out the African american population so Bush can get a hold of the underground oil. Its happen before with President Johnson and Hurricane Betsy. Several people reported an expolosion if the levees broke due to natural forces no explosion should of been heard

[ThreeCheersForKaylee]

It's easy to say that everyone just needs to leave New Orleans, and it probably is the most sensible thing to do after Katrina, but this is people's home. If it just ceased to be a city, I'd be devastated. There is so much culture there, it's unreal. To lose that would be...I can't even imagine.

It's like a mini-version of Venice, Italy. Venice sinks significantly every year. Relatively soon, the city will literally be gone. That's way too much culture lost.

[MondoBeno]

The State of Louisiana (and the Federa Govt) should buy up the lowest-lying ground near the levees, tear down the buildings, and turn it into a park where buiding will be forbidden.

[biohausPirat]

lol in your dreams maybe

[monnnat]

Its like a tampon!!!!

[omfgolo]

Haha?

[sinlove217]

@monnnat a huge tampon

[badbuddhist]

Why not just double the levees like the hulls in oil tankers?

[MondoBeno]

Can't you see? People are not meant to live near the lake. It was a flood zone in the first place, and it's sunk 15 feet thanks to the artificial drainage.

The area needs to be cleared of all residents. When it floods again it's going to be more extensive. Not IF, but WHEN.

[mcbuffington]

hey the storm is coming back i wonder how this will turn out

[JustBecauz]

Why did teh government let peopel live there then? If it was obviously a non stabel place to live. 3/4 of it is swamp.

[MondoBeno]

It's very common for the government to allow building in places where they should not. In California, homes are built in natural wildfire paths. In Westhampton Beach, NY, there were huge homes along the shore. Every year the homes would be damaged by the sea, and the insurance companies would keep on paying for them.

Remember, New Orleans has had a corrupt government since the 1960's. Mayor Ray Nagin (and his predecessors) didn't care about the people.

[jackiebaron]

Most of Florida is also swamp, you tit.

[amitywill]

or they could just make the levees stronger in the first place

[billy210uk]

Can't you use a million packs of Bounty kitchen roll?

[Elvisasmoose]

Something to do with horses and stable doors springs to mind.

[hudson742]

crack the sand bags out! WHEY HEY!

[pardonmydutch]

Yeay!!! I've got 600 channel views thanks to you!

[willsd87]

what a stupid fucking idea.

[stonerh]

Aw I thought this was gonna be Led Zep..

[Oggyad]

So did I! Have you heard about the re-union?

[stonerh]

Indeed I have, got my name down for tickets too :D

[plzhelpj]

when the levee breaks...we take the black people's guns.

[Cnguyen300]

wow...that will take forever for the wall to be ready

[methinxaweezil]

Good old American ingenuity is great, but sometimes you just gotta swallow your pride and call in the Dutch.

[locojadeo]

what the....?? think there might have been a few beers consumed during that brainstorming session...

[xanexbfm]

theres no way this would work during a hurricane the helocopters would get blown away

[linkinp23535667]

This would never work

[elzosmid]

It might work, similar systems are already in use in the Netherlands.

[mstatesocko]

I am the animator of this. I'm surprised to find it on YouTube.

If you all would read the article attached to the video, you would find that the weighted inflatable bags can be dropped preemptively prior to the storm hitting, providing an affordable mobile temporary barrier without billions in retrofits. To those who say 'build them right in the first place,' most engineers work in reality and try to solve the problems of the present and future rather than bitterly whine about the past.

[yeraze]

Well said.. Although, the idea is still a bit farfetched.

[siddo83]

looks like a giant tampon!

[joelio36]

lol

[alice303]

even better idea.........

build them properly in the first place!!!

yeah, i know. too radical.

[Crazyoldmerc]

NO matter how well you build them you are going to get failures. Always have a backup, as the Titanic should have told you.

[mosuembi]

i was expecting led zeppelin in the background

[SoFoSTheWise]

So was I :`(

[Tilaron]

Me too :(

[nazareth4372]

they should have been.

it would get a lot more veiws

[TomArnell]

When the levee breaks... you wanna hope this isnt the solution!

[JackLynx23]

Needs Background music.

[abelseeman]

Only for the dumbed down.

[NickGaming]

so many things were wrong with thatd esign

the main one was simply the fact that it was infltable, and what would that do? it would float on top of the water!

[wakodako2007]

it would have weights...

[cs01ab]

Don't you think they migh have thought of that? They're smarter than you give them credit for.

[rogerlam1]

lol... so Let's just pretend this works 99.999% on complete deployment. Who is going to pilot a helicopter in a hurricane with a huge weight and wind gusting at it? Or are we also going to pretending that the levee will only breaks at time without wind?

[Drummingisme]

heres an idea why did they build the levee above the level of the houses and why don't they reinforce the walls. just an idea.

[B33D13Z]

wow that is pretty clever

[Tampajoe77]

crock of shit.

[rankles]

I like the way that the whole other side seemed to be flooded by the time they had got that thing in place.

They may as well have just left it.

[gnyrkk]

Was that a giant tampon?!

[MarquisdeBarrabas]

No song?

[Unfathomable42]

Link and voice over missing, looks interesting though.

[billbacon]

How about building some levees that won't break? There's no way that copter could fly in a hurricane.

[xanexbfm]

exactly they should just build levees better in the first place

stuff like this costs too much

[zogg18]

This is what happens when politicians not engineers design flood defenses. 3 simple reasons this won't work.

1. How can a helicopter drop pillars while flying through a Hurricane.

2. If the helicopters have to wait till the hurricane passes the flooding will still be catostrophic.

3. If a levee is breached in one location and that breach is contained the water will continue to rise and will breach along another section of the levee.

[mstatesocko]

Nobody ever proclaimed that this solution prevents any catastrophic flooding. Put New Orleans above sea level and Katrina would STILL have been one of the worst hurricanes in US history. It's about damage control as best as possible.

[mstatesocko]

Your third point is physically inaccurate and barely worthy of comment, but no, the water will not continue to rise. A storm surge is a temporary rise in sea level - overtopping of a levee is likely to occur in an elevation like New Orleans. If a breach occurs and is closed after the storm surge, the water level will not continue to rise.

[iktinosparthenon]

its simple. Drop three self-righting pylons into the river bed (the use explosive charges to drive anchors into the bottom). This forms the solid structure to hold up the dam. Then lower a tube with pumps that, when put in the water, fills itself with water. When full the pumps stop and the valves shut. The weight of the river presses the now full bladder against the walls of the existing dyke, the pylons hold back the center. And its done. Much easier and safer to install and remove.

[QuarksAreStrange]

**Link missing from the description section**

[newscientistvideo]

Thanks for the spot, QuarksAreStrange. That's now fixed. I dunno, I take one day off...

Michael Marshall, online editorial assistant

[holdingcompany]

yea, right.

[JohnDeBunkTest]

Once again .. a voice over would have helped explain what steps were underway, and how it works.

[khatores]

It's pretty self-explanatory...they drop pillars in, drop the bladder in, it fills up with water and provides a barrier. And you're done...

[JohnDeBunkTest]

I'd prefer it simple enough for President Bush to understand.

[SmiertSpionem]

Yup, it does feel lacking.