The Army Corps of Engineers chief levee expert said the agency, which oversees U.S. levees, lacks an inventory of thousands of them that might be in danger of failing.
Eric Halpin told The Associated Press in June that he didn't know the risk posed by many of the levees across the country, some of which are old with rusting infrastructure and built to protect against common floods, not big ones.
This revelation came during a month when several levees in the Midwest overflowed and some failed, though initial reports indicated most worked as they were supposed to.
The concern is heightened because of record floods this spring and the forecast of more extreme weather in the future caused by a warming climate.
Mid-June brought severe floods to Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Iowa, where meteorologist Brian Pierce called the floods historic.
"We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring," Pierce told MSNBC.com. "We're in uncharted territory - this is an event beyond what anybody could even imagine."
Nine rivers reached record or near-record levels and levees burst, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in water damage to infrastructure. Cedar Rapids, Iowa's second-largest city, was completely shut down and 100 city blocks were under water.
The corps operates about 2,000 levees, some in partnership with local entities, while thousands of others are privately owned and operated but nobody has an inventory of these levees or their condition. Many of them protect populated areas, including business districts.
Bill Protects Volunteers
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill in June that gives nonprofit organizations and businesses liability protection while volunteering during a disaster.
The Corporate Good Samaritan Act states that any person, organization or private entity providing goods or services during an emergency in coordination with the state won't be civilly liable to people receiving assistance.
It's hoped the law will encourage more groups and individuals to volunteer during disasters by protecting them from lawsuits as long as they are operating under the direction of the appropriate state agency.
Other states, including Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, also are working to expand liability protection to cover business and nonprofit entities that volunteer during emergencies.
Statewide Connection
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are teaming to develop a statewide Internet protocol-based network that will connect existing radio communications systems in most Georgia counties and certain state agencies.
The network will link the radios of different counties, which include frequencies VHF, UHF, 800 MHz and others. When complete, it's hoped that Georgia public safety personnel will be able to communicate with colleagues in other counties regardless of the different radio systems in place.
Engineers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute are part of a team that includes GEMA, the Georgia State Patrol, Motorola, the Georgia Technology Authority, AT&T and SpaceNet. The team is scheduled to finish phase four of the project in mid-2009.
Drones Aid Forecasting
This summer a small fleet of radio-controlled drones was launched by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration into the heart of Caribbean hurricanes to beam back information that could help improve the accuracy of forecasts.
It's hoped the drones will provide new clues about the eyes of hurricanes, specifically what makes them strengthen. The drones won't be used near the U.S. coastline, however, because the Federal Aviation Administration hasn't authorized their use.
The aircrafts are equipped with a 1.6 horsepower engine and a flight management computer, and can fly 2,300 miles on 1.5 gallons of fuel at a cruising speed of 60 mph. The drones, manufactured by Aerosonde, in Melbourne, Australia, can fly into the swirling winds of a hurricane for more than 20 hours and return to home base intact.
