Major Melinda Lewis of the US Army Corps of Engineers doesn't want to be a whistleblower, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she has little choice. She can see, with a trained engineer's eye, how and why New Orleans's levees failed. Just as when she first brought her concerns to Washington, DC, however, she's again ignored and ridiculed.

Determined to prove political maneuvering and incompetency caused New Orleans to flood, Lewis joins forces with environmental groups, and together they demand that the Bush administration, FEMA, and the Army Corps of Engineers explain their...