I read this article on the Chicago Tribune online this morning:
Bush's Katrina problem just got bigger.
The big points of the article are the now famous quote:
"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
The argument is that "overtopping" which was said in the concall is different from a "breach" which was not said.
More detail beyond the flip...
And the contradiction in the recently released telecon video, from Max Mayfield (and Mike Brown, incidentally):
I don't think any (computer) models can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very grave concern.
The RWNM will try to tell you that there is a difference between "breaching" and "topping," blathering about overfilling a glass vs. breaking a glass. That assertion is completely false.
Haested and Bentley are two companies that create hydro modelling software. This is an excerpt from their "Flood Plain Modeling" product's user guide:
There are three common mechanisms for levee breach initiation. The first is overtopping of the levee by high water levels and subsequent downward erosion...
So moral of the story: Anyone trying to provide cover for the Prez by saying that "overtopping" and "breaching" are two different things are dead wrong. One causes the other.