A recent Sacramento Bee article describes how local levees have been repaired and two years of work took only eight months. I guess this calls for a big “Thank You” to Hurricane Katrina, because if she hadn’t destroyed New Orleans, we may have been sitting on a new landscape feature: Lake Greenhaven.

This quote from Brandon Muncy, chief of civil works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Sacramento District, was particularly disturbing:

“After Katrina, we learned New Orleans had 250-year protection,” Muncy said. “In the Pocket, we didn’t even have 100-year protection.”

Kind of makes you stop and think there, doesn’t it? I suppose if I lived on higher ground, I could care less about the Pocket. But since I’m living there now and plan to remain in the area, it remains a matter of concern.

I personally learned a few other things from Katrina as well…always have extra water and baby formula on hand…and live on the second or third floor. Always wear clean underwear and have a lifeboat on the roof of your house. And keep lifejackets. And wear a helmet. You can never feel too safe these days.