Days after the New Orelans terror attack left 14 people dead on New Year's night, reports are saying it could have been prevented if authorities had paid heed to safety warnings issued as far back as 2019. The warnings came from a security firm that put the risk of terrorism in the French Quarter as 'highly possible,' multiple US media reports said. And the barricades in place at the area on the night of the attack were not capable of blocking the vehicle, even as better equipment had already been contracted.

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The security firm's warning in 2019 had even specifically mentioned mass shootings and vehicular attacks as 'highly possible and moderately probable', said a report on CNN.

Also read: Explosives discovered at New Orleans attacker's home, say officials

Texas-based US Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar rammed his 6,000-pound, seven-foot-wide pickup truck through a sidewalk at 3.15 am local time on Wednesday (Jan 1) in an attack inspired by terror group Islamic State.

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He was shot dead by police.

Better barriers were available, but not deployed

NBC News channel noted in a report that new, 700-pound steel barriers were put on Bourbon Street only a day after Jabbar rammed his car into the holiday crowd.

Also read: Biden to visit New Orleans on Monday; to grieve with victims' families, meet officials

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It said the barriers had in fact been already contracted and available with the city.

On New Year's Day, the French Quarter lacked these barriers, which made it easy for Jabbar to plow into the crowd.

New Orleans security planners chose ease of passing over safety: Report

An investigative report by the Reuters news agency said the city 'chose ease over safety' with regards to street barriers. It installed barriers meant for attacks at the speed of 10 miles per hour.

This decision, according Reuters, was made after assessing possible scenarios of a potential attack. That assessment was done using a Ford F-150, which was similar to the vehicle used in the New Year attack.

Such a vehicle could ram in at speeds as high as 70mph, far above the resisting power of the barriers that had been in place on the fateful night.

Also read: New Orleans attacker’s recordings reveal extreme religious views on music, sex, intoxicants

Reuters looked into contract documents for barriers, or bollards, as well as engineering analysis done ahead of the attack.

Newly contracted barriers were supposed to have been put in place only by 9 February, when New Orleans is set to host the NFL Super Bowl.

"The documents reviewed by Reuters...make clear that the system won’t be able to prevent vehicle attacks at moderate to high speeds," said the news agency.

An 'open road' led to preventable tragedy?

The Reuters report pointed out that Bourbon Street, the site of the carnage, is usually open to vehicular traffic for much of the day, with some blockades put in parts of it during evenings.

Also read: New Orleans terror attack victims' stories: 'He said he'll be alright, but...'

On the night of the attack, the specific road from which the attacker entered - Canal and Bourbon- had no bollards.

The only security on that road was a police SUV cruiser, parked sideways.

Another gap in security preparation was that the authorities, during security planning, did not anticipate the attacker to ram through a sidewalk, which he did.

The 2019 warning

According to multiple reports, a private security consultancy firm had warned that the bollards in the area "did not appear to work". 

They were 'being fixed' when the attack took place, New York Times reported.

The security firm, based out of New York, had suggested that barriers should be fixed immediately.

“The two modes of terror attack likely to be used are vehicular ramming and active shooting,” NYT quoted the firm as having warned.

(With inputs from agencies)