From the Wall Street Journal to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, it seems like everyone wants to know what Dr. J. David Rogers thinks about the levees that failed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. A geological engineer and an expert on disasters and whatnot, Rogers has been extremely busy since Katrina. Right now, he's on the National Science Foundation's Independent Levee Investigation Team; and he's not afraid to speak his mind. Rogers has been outspoken on everything from the role of the Army Corps of Engineers to self-serving politicians.
Should New Orleans be relocated or abandoned entirely? Rogers isn't willing to go quite that far, but he doesn't think the city will ever be the same. "You take the lowest areas and turn those into drainage polders," Rogers says. "If the water comes over the walls, it would flow into these areas and not adjacent neighborhoods on higher ground."
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