OT: Hurricanes, New Orleans

[Norminn]

I'm holding my breath while another hurricane passes me by, not hoping it goes elsewhere particularly. There is an old map, 1779, in the Library of Congress with some really interesting notes. One note, especially, says that the Island of Grand Gosier (just NE of mouth of the Mississippi) was entirely washed away in a hurricane in 1772, but in

1776 had recovered about a mile at the south end and since that hit has almost resumed it's old form and dimensions. Good reference for real estate speculation :o)

I get irritated with Florida folks who want to keep others off "their" beach, but demand the gov't. (me) replenish "their" beach when it washes away.

Ennyhoo......good luck and God speed to all those in the storm. May your breezes be light and fragrant :o) Stay safe.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I get irritated by people living below sea level that want the government (you) to bail them out (literally and figuratively) after a hurricane. Move, you dummy, water runs down hill.

[HeyBub]

It's a conundrum. New Orleans is the busiest port in the nation. Most of the agricultural exports of the midwest moves through the port as well as a goodly portion of manufactured goods from the industrial heartland. Over

6,000 ships use the port each year. $10 or $20 billion every few years to rebuild the city is piddly compared to moving the port facilities upstream or to Alabama.

[Norminn]

Well, there are certain practical matters to consider. Like money. Being born and raised in a place for many generations is a tad different than plunking down a million dollars and expecting welfare to maintain it. I live on the water, but not the beach. Got a seawall that we pay to maintain. No welfare.

My hometown was too low, so they raised it up eight feet. That was after it all burned, 1871. Cleaned up the lake by reversing flow of the river.

A couple of billion a month would fix N.O. up real nice, but we're wasting it in Iraq.

[YT]

bringing democracy to the mid east is not a waste.

[Harry K]

It isn't the port that is the problem. It could stay there quite well. It is residential housing and businesses in a very poor location.

Harry K

[Kurt Ullman]

It would take that since 75% of it is siphoned off into various pockets.

[Zz Yzx]

Ditto here. I remember watching the news in Houston, c. 1982-1985, and seeing the news footage of people sloshing around in flooded homes. One woman actually said "This is the THIRD time in 5 years! It's like we belong to the 'Flood of the Month Club'. What we need is a HILL!"

-Zz

[dpb]

Harry K wrote: ...

The port can't exist as an operational entity in isolation, however.

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[dpb]

I thought it went into freezers???

--

[aemeijers]

Agreed. All the money and volunteer work from the kind-hearted souls to rebuild Lower 9th, would have been much better put to buying them out, and starting a new suburb on high ground somewhere. Yes, I understand people get attached to living in Grandpappy's house, and the culture of a multi-generational community- but common sense has to intrude at some point. From the latest maps, looks like Mother Nature is gonna give NO a dope slap upside the head about it, with a much shorter interval than she usually does. Maybe this time they will listen.

And for you flamers- I do have a dog in this fight. I own a house about

4 hours west of NO. However, it is about 10 feet above sea level, and still has a parish of wetlands between it and the ocean to buffer the storm surge. Only minor damage last time, but still keeping my fingers crossed.

-- aem sends...

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It would be wasted in parts of NO also. It is crazy to rebuild below the natural waterline. I don't want my tax $$$ wasted in either place.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Bush is still in office so blame him. Gore would have re-routed the storm.

[Norminn]

Just to tilt toward folks who live there, land around the Miss. delta has sunk sutstantially, and continues to do so. It's a little crazy to expect an entire population to abandon a city and go elsewhere. There aren't many areas of the US that don't have some threat by natural forces. Heck, how many folks in "tornado alley" get creamed more than once?

[hallerb]

thank idiots like lindsey graham head of republicans in congress, who has stonewalled nearly everything democrats have tried to do.

the larger issue, if global warming is true no matter what the cause should new orleans be rebuilt at all? and what of all the other coastal citys like new york? theres the question of affordability. our country is on its way to bankruptcy, we cant afford to do everything for everyone in the entire world if 1/3 of our population is living in with water lapping at their doors.

doesnt matter if global warming is man made or totally natural.........

in both cases the citys still flood

[Norminn]

What a rash attack of common sense :o)

[gfretwell]

The government had a great chance to fix this a couple years ago when all the houses were under water. They should have scraped off the whole place, barged in enough dirt to get it above the FEMA building level the rest of the country has to abide by and then let the people build back at a decent wind code standard. If they had done this Gustav would just be a minor inconvenience.

[Kurt Ullman]

The randomly occurring natural disasters I have less trouble rebuilding. Tornadoes, hurricanes, etc., come and go. So rebuild these areas (with the appropriate building code changes to at least make Mom Nature work harder). The "scheduled disasters" along rivers that flood pretty much every year are the ones that make me scratch my head.

[KLS]

Particularly Erik Prince's pocket from all his Blackwater contracts.

[hallerb]

pittsburgh has a history of floods.

recently in flood prone areas, homeowners get bought out and flood areas are turned into natural parks.

this ends the problem one home at a time.

true new orleans should be fixed somehow, but honestly with bush as president who expects much of anything?

for bush supporters here please post a list of his successes?

short list huh:(

destabilize mid east, handing more power to iran. diminish world opinion of our country, didnt get bin laden, distracted by iraq, our economy down the tubes, geez the list is endless

the so called rebuilding of new orleans was a joke