Levees failed in wake of Hurricane Katrina

A national committee headed by Tech President Wayne Clough said the entire New Orleans levee system needs to be studied, not just the levees that were breached by Hurricane Katrina.

"While a few places failed, that doesn't mean other places won't fail in the future," Clough said in a statement widely published by media outlets in the hurricane-ravaged region.

Clough heads a panel for the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council that is reviewing the levee investigation work being conducted by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers.

He said a "big picture" approach is needed because there could have been sections of levees that were close to failing but didn't because another section failed first and thereby relieved the pressure.

Clough's committee released a 12-page report that outlines areas of study that should be better scrutinized. The Army Corps of Engineers task force is supposed to finish its report on the levee failures by June 1.

"This is a big project," Clough said in a published statement. "All of America is wondering what is going to happen."