grist for the mill

[SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN ARTICLE FROM OCTOBER 2001 ] Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Drowning New Orleans -- [ CIVIL ENGINEERING ] -- A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically: "The boxes are stacked eight feet high and line the walls of the large, windowless room. Inside them are new body bags, 10,000 in all. If a big, slow-moving hurricane crossed the Gulf of Mexico on the right track, it would drive a sea surge that would drown New Orleans under 20 feet of water. 'As the water recedes,' says Walter Maestri, a local emergency management director, 'we expect to find a lot of dead bodies.' "