In 1927, as floodwaters threatened New Orleans, a self-appointed committee of businessmen persuaded the government to dynamite a downstream levee and release the pressure of the swelling torrent.

FORBES: American Pyramids

The plan now is to try to use some of these local groups to funnel the vast sums of foreign aid money finally being promised into Somalia, taking the pressure off the swelling camps outside.

BBC: Solving Somalia's aid conundrum

"There's only so much swelling brain can tolerate until there's pressure on the nerves that control breathing and circulation, " said Dr. Roger Bonomo, director of stroke care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS