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CEE alumnus Riley directs Army Corps effort to “unwater” New Orleans
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A Texas Army National Guard Blackhawk drops a 6,000-pound bag of sand and gravel in the breach in the 17th Street Canal.
ALAN DOOLEY/U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS PHOTO
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The hot and humid southern shores of Lake Pontchartrain bustle with engineers and contractors. Helicopters drop sandbags into breaches in the canal floodwalls, and a line of dump trucks loaded with aggregate stretches as far as the eye can see. One contractor shores up the road leading to the worksite, while another builds a temporary bridge for a crane to access a breach in the levee. Crammed between the lake on one side and floodwaters on the other, the worksite is about one-tenth the size required for an operation of this magnitude.
That is the scene described by Major General Don Riley (M.S.’80 CEE), stationed in Baton Rouge since August 28, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit.
Riley is director of Civil Works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the nation’s primary agency for planning and building public works. In that capacity, he also commands the USACE’s Emergency Operations Task Force. When Forefront spoke with Riley in mid-September, he expected to be there through the month, living and sleeping on a barge in the Mississippi River.
Well, trying to sleep, that is.
“When you’re working 20-hour days, even when you lie down to get some sleep, your mind is still running, your pulse is still racing,” he says. A Hayward native and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Riley joined the Corps in 1973. He was appointed commander last July, just in time for the four hurricanes that hit Florida. But nothing he saw there compared with this one. The 2,000 Corps employees working under Riley in just two weeks following Hurricane Katrina already exceeded the number deployed in all four Florida hurricanes combined.
“Flying over the area I was just absolutely stunned by the extent of wind and water damage,” he says. “In communities like Waveland and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, all that was left were concrete slabs where there used to be homes.”
Riley’s job entails clearing out debris, restoring power, repairing roofs, and locating housing for displaced persons. It will take years for the area to recover from the ravages of the storm, he says. Funding of $3 billion has already been authorized and, Riley says, more will be needed.
“This is such a massive effort that it will stretch our engineering leadership to its full capacity,” Riley says. “I’m using every bit of engineering knowledge I learned at Berkeley.”
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USACE Director of Civil Works Maj. Gen. Don Riley (M.S.’80 CEE) briefs Diane Sawyer, co-host of ABC's Good Morning America, on air and land operations involved in the Hurricane Katrina cleanup.
MAJ. HUGH DARVILLE/U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS PHOTO
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What is he learning today from one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S. landmass? Hurricane Katrina, he says, is reminding us that development must not only be compatible with the environment, but also sustain and enhance it to increase protection. But, Riley adds, areas at risk for disasters — whether they be hurricanes or earthquakes — must be aware of that risk.
“Communities will always be faced with difficult choices and trade some level of protection for cost,” he says. “They will never have enough money to protect for all contingencies.”
Just as important as restoring infrastructure, livelihoods, and homes, Riley says, is rebuilding people’s spirit and confidence. He has taken a lead role in working with state leaders to provide accurate and timely information to the media and public and to inform local government of what resources are needed
“The more senior you get in the profession, the more you find that engineering is not just the science of solving problems,” Riley says. “Engineering today is as much about the art of striking the right balance as it is about getting the science of design and construction right.”
Riley tells the story of one night when eight newborns needed to be evacuated from a New Orleans hospital in order to survive. Working together, late at night and without lighting, the Emergency Operations Center, Texas Forest Service, and Women’s Hospital in Baton Rouge coordinated a baby brigade involving helicopters, boats, and cars on partially submerged highways that safely transported the little patients. Last he heard, all eight were doing fine.
“That was only one of a hundred similar things happening that day,” Riley says. “Everyone involved feels a great sense of urgency about helping a community in need put their lives back together.”
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