Timothy Ruppert - In Levees We Trust

But should we? The New York Times has an article today about the inadequacies of our levee protection system. Questions remain about where all the money has been going. At Rising Tide 2, on Saturday, August 25, Timothy Ruppert will present a comprehensive report on the level of hurricane protection currently existing in New Orleans.

Tim will lead a discussion of the components of the hurricane protection system, where we are now and what it will mean once we have the "100-year" level of protection. It will include a comparisson of what other industrialized nations do, and how levees compare to rivers or dams when it comes to safety. Tim is the current president of the American Society of Civil Engineers Louisiana Section. He will be speaking as a civil engineer and a local representative of ASCE.

Tim is also a NOLA blogger (Tim's Nameless Blog), and a resident of Gentilly. His family's home was flooded by the London Canal breach, with the dried-out remains later burning up in a fire. He and his sainted wife are rebuilding their home, but this time it's raised on pilings.

Rising Tide Schedule

Friday, August 24, 2007 - Buffa's Lounge, 1001 Esplanade Avenue, corner of Burgundy.

7:30 - 10:00 p.m. - New Orleans on Video

Rising Tide 2007 presents video by artists inspired by the federal flood that followed Hurricane Katrina and its devastation of New Orleans. Cash Bar.

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Saturday, August 25, 2007 - New Orleans Yacht Club, Municipal Yacht Harbor, in Lakeview. Map here.

8:30 - 9:15 - Registration and coffee

9:15 - Opening Remarks, Mark Moseley

9:30 - 10:30 - Louisiana Politics
Kim Marshall moderates a panel discussion featuring Michael Duplantier, Peter Athas, and Mark Moseley

10:30 - 10:45 - Sustainability presentation by Morwen Madrigal

10:45 - 11:00 - Break

11:00 - 12:30 - What is the State of New Orleans' Levee Protection?
Presentations by Timothy Ruppert, NOLA blogger and current president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Louisiana Section, Matt McBride, author of the blog "Fix the Pumps."

12:30 - 1:30 - Lunch from Dunbar's

1:30 - 2:30 - Keynote address by Dave Zirin. Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome, published by Haymarket Press, a columnist for SLAM Magazine, a regular contributor to the Nation Magazine, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. His weekly online column is www.edgeofsports.com.

2:30 - 2:45 - Break

2:45 - 3:45 - How We Write Now
Greg Peters moderates a panel of New Orleans writers discussing the impact of the flood and its aftermath on their work. Featuring Joshua Clark, Dave Brinks, Valentine Pierce, and Sam Jasper.

3:45 - 4:45 - Making Civic Sexy
Maitri Venkat-Ramani moderates a panel discussion by New Orleans community activists Karen Gadbois, Bart Everson, Dr. Eban Walters, and Sarah Elise Lewis

4:45 - Concluding remarks - Mark Moseley

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Sunday, August 26, 2007 - Service Project for New Orleans Public Schools

Rising Tide will offer an opportunity for its participants to help the New Orleans Public Schools, many of which will be opening for the first time this year. Details coming soon.