Lack of Lifting Slings Slows Levee Repair As Water Levels Drop
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has run out of slings used to drop sandbags from helicopters into the breach in a canal levee that is flooding New Orleans, says a spokesman for the Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development, which is assisting in the work.
The teams have airlifted in 200 Jersey barriers and 3,000-lb sandbags to dam the breach, says the spokesman, Mark Lambert.
It's a logistical nightmare, Lambert says. The slings must go with the sandbags, so teams are waiting for 250 more slings to arrive. Eventually, barges will be sunk into the lake perpendicular to the levee, with the hope that they will reverse the water's flow back into the lake.