Should New Orleans be rebuilt?
It’s an indelicate question but one that needs to be asked: Should New Orleans be rebuilt? Or how much of it should be?
At a press conference with the governor and legislators just now, vows were made: “We’re going to be reinventing New Orleans…. Can and will New Orleans be rebuilt? Absolutely!”
But… Having visited the city often in my last job, I was always struck by its poverty and its lack of a workable economy. Tourism is pretty much the only industry. The food is great. The attitude is fun. But big companies had left.
And… Does it make sense to rebuild homes and offices in a place that can be destroyed all too easily, putting thousands of lives at risk? Is that the right thing to do?
And… Is that the best use of our tax and insurance dollars? Everytime the Mississippi floods up river, there are those who say that we should stop paying to rebuild that which has been destroyed before. And, in fact, we have invested government money in moving people away from certain danger so we can stop paying to rebuild. It’s an investment in their safety.
I’m not suggesting that what’s left of New Orleans should be bulldozed and abandoned. But I will suggest that, indeed, the city may need to be reinvented. How?
Perhaps it should go with its strengths and be rebuilt as a tourist destination before all its restaurants have branches in Vegas. Perhaps it should be smaller and rather than investing in rebuilding, the money should in some cases be spent on relocation.
What should become of New Orleans?
Tags: News
August 30th, 2005 at 5:07 pm
(Please pardon this repeaeted comment from an earlier post but this is important.)
http://www.RedCross.org is very slow. Hopefuly that means their getting alot of donations.
Network for Good has a page of donation links to charities (including the Red Cross) mobilizing to help: http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/animal_environ/hurricanes/ .
I just made a Red Cross donation via NetworkForGood’s cart there very easily.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Let us all remember one thing abou this. God is punishing them for thier decadent lifestyle!
August 30th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
It’s not like New Orleans ever made sense in the first place, an eternally crumbling town built on the edge of apocalypse in a miasma of sweat and disease. By all means rebuild it! The fact that it makes no sense is one of its greatest attractions — and unlike other cities that make absolutely no sense (LA, Phoenix), this one actually has a soul.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:34 pm
Absolutely, it should be re-built. As Chris says above, it has a great big soul. The history, culture, music - alone! that has sprung from that bathtub demands a re-build, and not some sterile, squeaky clean Celebration, FL version two hundred miles upriver, but right there. I think we all need a reminder of our own inherent absurd but beautiful fragility. Yes.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:38 pm
Um. no Jeff, it isn’t a question that needs to be asked, at least not while the city is dying before our eyes.
“Indelicate” isn’t the word. Could we at least wait until the bodies are recovered before playing “I told you so” and worrying about tax dollars?
August 30th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
The irony of course is that the one part of the city yet to have been adversely impacted by the flooding is the French Quarter. Back in the days before the Army Corps of Engineers chained the Mississippi River to a fixed course the locals knew damned well not to build anything you’d miss on a floodplain.
Absolutely N.O. should be rebuilt. If we can spend $200+ billion dollars rebuilding someone else’s nation surely we can do better for one of our own cities.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
chris & kelsey… well said… but let’s use disney’s money to do it.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
YES it should be re-built. And I don’t say that about all the beach houses on barrier islands that were never meant to be so densely populated. New Orleans is responsible for a disproportionate amount of the soul of our country. We NEED New Orleans to be re-built.
Hopefully it can be done in a way that better honors its physical environment as well as its human inhabitants.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
Better yet, should Iraq be rebuilt? That could be throwing good money after bad as well.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:00 pm
I’ll personally wait until the people are rescued/evacuated, the dead are buried, and the water recedes before worrying about the future of New Orleans. That isn’t just because I think we need to respect those that are being and have been affected by this, but because pondering about the future of New Orleans does nothing to improve the current situation.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:01 pm
I was surprised at how small New orleans Actually is. Less than a half million people? I had simply assumed there were a whole lot more.
I think the city should rebuild, but very carefully. The slums that Katrina destroyed should stay destroyed. Depression and poverty do not equal soul.
New Orleans was a geographical time bomb. The potential for this to happen again is very high. Just as Los Angeles builds in anticipation or earthquakes, New Orleans must anticipate flood. It needs to rebuild with a close eye on what is safe, what can be made safe, and what should be abandoned.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Yes, The City of La Nouvelle Orléans must be rebuild.
It’s a “Memory Duty” like the rebuild of Varsovia…
A Nation with no memory is a Nation with no future.
Building cities for humans is better than making a non-sense War in Irak !
Have a great day
August 30th, 2005 at 7:40 pm
Maybe we watch the flood waters recede and bury the dead before we go meta on this one?
August 30th, 2005 at 7:45 pm
I wonder if you’d be so quick to suggest abandonment and relocation of New Orleans if the people affected were predominantly white rather than black?
August 30th, 2005 at 7:45 pm
Good question, but the wrong time to ask it. The hurricane has passed, but the disaster is only getting started. You dont ask people to pick out new drapes while the fire department is still putting out the fire.
Sections of Southern Louisiana, Missouri and Alabama will likely be uninhabitable for some time, and its very likely that due to dioxin there may be may parts of these areas that are never going to be re-inhabited.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:03 pm
From an eerily prophetic December 2000 article…
I don’t understand why the people didn’t heed the mandatory evaculation order. Even if I didn’t have a car I would have walked to the SuperDome. The only explanation I can think of is that they weren’t well enough informed which is a failure of their local government.
Considering it will be impossible to get property insured there in the future and the pollution and bad memories stuck in the mud, it’s fairly safe (and sad) to say that it won’t be rebuilt.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:13 pm
I was surprised at how small New orleans Actually is. Less than a half million people? I had simply assumed there were a whole lot more.
I think it depends on your definition of what New Orleans is. Boston’s only got ~600,000 if you only count who’s in the city proper, yet many of the municipalities in the Greater Metro area that would be included in the population count of most other cities make the total number of people more like 4 million.
According to the extremely useful website Nationmaster.com, the N.O./Metairie/Kenner metro area amounts to 1.3 million, making it the 39th largest such region in America.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
Am an artist and have been working on a book for 25 years, I have walked, taking photos of every inch of N.O. over 3000 . THIS TOWN HATES CHANGE I MEAN HATES … Yes the poor need new housing hopefully this is a way to find work . If you take the time to read the history of N.O. this is just a bump in the road,in 1853 more than 40,000 had the yellow fever about 10,000 people died that summer. Those levees were built from the PEOPLE WHO HATE CHANGE , this time next year Mon will be Red Beans & Rice Day …MY HEART IS WITH YOU NEW ORLEANS.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
Isn’t it up to the people of New Orleans whether to rebuild or not?
August 30th, 2005 at 8:32 pm
No, let’s not rebuild New Orleans. Hurricanes are only part of the problem. The city sits on rever delta sediments, which means the street level surface is constantly sinking due to soil compaction. New sediments, rather than being allowed to replenish the land (and the important coastal buffer) are instead flushed out to sea by channelizing the river. As new silt clogs the mouth of the Mississippi, the levees are extended yet farther into the Gulf, which has the effect of flushing sediment yet farther into the sea. Meanwhile, the ancient delta deposits, robbed of fresh sediements, are eroding.
So not only is the land sinking, but the coast is eroding ever closer. In a few decades, New Orleans will be an isolated bowl/isthmus/ditch set several miles offshore in the Gulf, with sea waves crashing directly against a levee which must be built ever higher as the land sinks ever deeper. Once a century the bowl will be flooded by another Katrina and all will be lost again.
It’s insane to flush more money into this bowl of futility. Let’s cut our losses and relocate the population, rather than perpetuate the French Folly with limitless tax and disaster subsidies.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:39 pm
Well, I wouldn’t have written this now except that senators and congressmen were promising to write legislation to this effect tomorrow.
And if we care about the people who died there, then perhaps we don’t want to subject the survivors to this risk again.
Gunther: Give me a friggin’ break. The race card has been played so often it’s tattered. And perhaps you could be accused to saying it’s OK to risk people’s lives in this flood bowl just because they are poor and black. Give it up.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:59 pm
DB
“It’s insane to flush more money into this bowl of futility. Let’s cut our losses and relocate the population, rather than perpetuate the French Folly with limitless tax and disaster subsidies. ”
I agree 100%. I assume you are talking about Iraq?
August 30th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
I love visiting New Orleans and will probably do it again. It’s still a very valid question because as far as I know there has not been a single viable proposal that will save the city in the long run. Also count me among those who think that the future of hurricanes is much brighter than that of the coastal population centers that they will be visiting thanks to ongoing climatological trends.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:10 pm
Jeff
As a southerner I hate to see old things go away. But for the most part N.O needs to go away. It would be neat to see the city reborn as a small tourist/hi-tech area where most or all residents live in and around downtown and the french quarter…get rid of the sprawl…let the wetlands come back. Stop the never ending sinking problem
August 30th, 2005 at 9:11 pm
Me, I think it should be rebuilt, but on thick stilts with deep pilings. Also, no more levees and pumps; perhaps Newer Orleans infrastructure can be at one with Lake Pontchartrain, with canals and gondolas, like Venice or Delft. Wouldn’t that be cool? You’d barely be able to tell where the city ends and the suburban bayous begin. You could call them suburbayous.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:12 pm
Let me illustrate with a roughly equivalent proposal how stupid it is to rebuild New Orleans
(1) Pick an spot between two islands about halfway along the chain of Florida Keys. Draw a rectangle around the spot, maybe thirty miles long by 10 miles wide. The line defing the rectangle will probably be in open water; nonetheless, build a wall from the sea floor to maybe fifteen feet above the surface — a total of maybe 50 feet high.
(2) Pump out all the water from this huge bathtub.
(3) Build a city on the dry bathtub floor, and move about a million people in. Wait for the next hurricane to drown them.
Repeat steps (2) and (3) about once every 100 years.
THAT is how stupid it is to rebuild New Orleans now, given the effective total destruction of city’s existing real estate.
Except it’s even stupider, because New Orleans has a huge elevated aqueduct (some call it the Mississippi River) running down the centerline of the bathtub.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Metarie/Kenner/New Orleans….you right Jersey. It all seems one large city but the soul is downtown NO. My favorite food in the south was in a hole-in-the-wall in Kenner. Shame.
I hate this. And yes, if I could put it all back tomorrow for the people, so be it. I don’t know Jeff, too soon. Just hope they figure a way to get all those people out. That looks to be a major.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:48 pm
A couple of days ago, New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen. Now it’s just a disaster.
No, it should not be rebuilt to what it was. We are supposed to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Agree with dude who said if we can spend at least $300 billion to fuck up and fail to rebuild Iraq/Afhganistan (not too mention hundred billions more for too many weps to count), then we should be able to rebuild something that keeps Big Easy alive, baby.
You gotta also agree that you’d have to be a dumbfuck or rich asshole to rebuild below sea-level.
Again, like the friggin tsunami, and even 9/11, the magnitude of this disaster only grows and feeds a concise armegeddon symbology. Its obvious the end of the world is nigh mothafuckas — unless the HEAD of BIG OIL is ripped off its bootlickn’ lackeys reeducated — “cultural revolution style”. Hardlabor and 24/7 loudspeakers and big screens with “Ellen” and “Rosie”, and Malcom X, Queer Eye,”ACLU All-Stars Lectures, Hosted by Noam Chomsky”, Sri Chimnoy-type muthafuckas, Dixie Chicks, Pygmy shamans, etc., etc. Their labors would be redeeming, so that upon death, their lives will have actually been helpful.
And of course nonexistant global warming has nothing to do with freak weather (”oh, it goes in cycles and there’s no proof” - these muthafuckas need to be fed to the animals).
But while everyone’s just taking it up the butt (in a bad way) and whimpering about bargain gas prices (Chris Rock, keen as always, is right on message appealing to dumb, greedy, evil voters by hammering on gas prices)
But anyway, you just gotta wonder how intelligent it would be to design Newnew Orleans in its present location, when God obviously doesn’t want it there.
But I really wanna see CNN cover the area of New Orleans where I live. For the past two days I’ve been chillin and blogging from my generator-run survivalist treehouse perched near the zoo. I’ve got my binoculars on a group of people putting little outboard motors on floating coffins and other impromptu rafts who are goin round lootin and shit Road Warrior style. And, of course, the animals in the zoo have escaped their cages and made my neighborhood an all you can eat cajun buffet. Man, this blog writes itself.
The horror. The horror.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:02 pm
We should ask the question now, and the answer is no. New Orleans should not be rebuilt. To address Brett Rodgers, it should be up to everyone, because our tax dollars will be used to rebuild this folly. When the Mississippi River flooded the Midwest about a decade ago, they moved whole towns that were built in the flood plain. That is what should be done with New Orleans. Keep the French Quarter around as a small tourist attraction, and move everything else. The only other option I can think of is to fill in the areas that are under sea level. I don’t know where the dirt would come from, or if this idea is feasible, but rebuilding the whole city again under sea level is a bad idea.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:03 pm
If the people of New Orleans, and the state of Louisiana want to rebuild, then power to them. But, it’s time for the federa gravy train, for disasters, to stop. Ironically, just after I posted to my own blog on this subject, I read your post. I’m tired of using my tax dollars to pay to rebuild areas that are clearly going to be disaster zones again. Don’t get me wrong, I abhor the loss of life, empathize with those who have lost there life’s work and personal belongings. But, it’s not like they hadn’t been warned. They were living BELOW sea level, on a coast that has been on the receiving end of numerous hurricanes. Why should the rest of the nation pay for their foolishness? Federal flood insurance needs to go away. It just encourages foolish behavior, and hides the true cost of living in certain areas.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:18 pm
New Orleans is one of the United States’ most important sea ports.
There has to be a city there.
Chicago was rebuilt after the great fire. San Francisco was rebuilt after the great earthquake.
The rebuilt New Orleans will be a big improvement over the old version — as were Chicago & SF. Just keep Bourbon St. the way it is.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
I asked the same thing earlier today on my blog. I think it is something to consider. It might not be what people want to think about, but it is a concern given the city’s unique vulnerabilities. In 1993, these same questions were asked about communities along the Mississippi River when it had a “100-year event” because there were events, albeit not as large, happening quite frequently. Many people were encouraged to relocate.
New Orleans has been lucky, but it may enter a period of being unlucky. Is that something tax payers want to pay for?
August 30th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
After reading all the comments, one is left to wonder if the better question is whether the businesses which are currently being systematically looted by folks in the Big Easy would ever want to return to reward the generosity of those who chose to disobey mandatory evacuation orders.
These businesses provide much needed employment and economic life to a city of millions, most of the economically challenged. These businesses are being repaid tonight by being blatently robbed in the presence of police, firemen, other rescue personnel and, not inconsequentially, hundreds of news video cameras.
Quite stunning how some people are willing to destroy their own communities for the sake of a few pairs of Nike shoes or a 13-inch black and white television lifted from the local Wal-Mart.
I’m quite struck by the video of the looters.
They all seem to have something in common.
And before Gunther goes off on his high horse … the thing the looters seem to have in common is not that they are all black … the thing they seem to have in common is that none of them mind very much whether the crimes they are committing against their own neighbors make the CBS Evening News.
As someone who was born and raised in Louisiana and watches these scenes of devastation fighting hard to swallow the lump in my throat as I watch my home state drowning … tonight, I am ashamed to say I am from there.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:31 pm
I say rebuild, west of the Mississippi on higher ground.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:41 pm
do not rebuild it
rebuild the loop
and the port
forcibly remove everyone from the coastal areas of louisiana, alabama, and mississippi, and tell everyone that there will be no aid to anyone affected by further weather events. cut your losses on this poor, lawless city.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:51 pm
I lived in New Orleans up until a few months ago. (NO, I’m not psychic.) I bartended in the French Quarter and at a few places in the adjoining Marigny. I lived there for five years and published my Web magazine from there, of course.
There will always be a New Orleans, until global warming takes away the rest of the coastal United States, Manhattan *island* (where I also used to live) first. Get over it, folks.
New Orleans is for us was Beirut was for the Middle East before the 1970s. It’s an adult theme park that America needs to save its consumerist soul. You all go there to do what you’d never do in your own home towns. You collect the Mardi Gras beads like children collecting candy and come back with stories to tell your grandchildren.
When New Orleans was first built, the architect/engineer in charge told his patron it was madness. The world can use a little more benign madness, don’t you think?
August 30th, 2005 at 10:56 pm
If New Orleans is to be rebuilt, it should most definitely be rebuilt differently. I think Alan’s comment above is constructive. Some part of the old city can be preserved, but much of the formerly functioning areas of the city should probably never be made functional again.
On a side note, I think the “if we’re blowing money in Iraq, why can’t we blow money on New Orleans?” arguments have a false premise–namely, that we are accepting that Iraq will require our reconstruction and security resources indefinitely. That’s obviously not the hope of the administration. (The debate over whether those hopes are unfounded or not is another issue all together.)
We KNOW that New Orleans (as it was) would require continual infusions of massive resources into the indefinite future to continue existing. This might well be justified for some cities (like some in earthquake prone California, for example) that have productive economies. With all due respect and amiability to those that called it home, New Orleans was a poor and, some might argue, municipally dysfunctional city.
As it appears that we will be rebuilding from almost literally the ground up, if we rebuild, it would be remiss to rebuild New Orleans as it was. It might carry the name, but a practically new city should arise.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:57 pm
What Dennis Mosher said. Surely you’ve noticed the vast amounts of industry around NO by now. If not, pick up your local fishwrap and read the business section. If that’s too much trouble, peek out the window at the gas prices. Good grief. The number of petrochemicals alone make it moot. There’s banking & there’s tourism, too. I can’t believe the question would even be asked. Leave it to a Yankee.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:25 pm
Did anyone ask the same question when the cities of Oakland and San Francisco were severely rocked by an earthquake not so many years ago. Will the same question be asked when the San Andreas finallt gives and Los Angeles is destroyed. New Orleans is older than our nation and it is the soul of my home state. I am heading there in one hour along with my bay boat. My brother in law is riding shotgun. This city will be rebuilt. God bless New Orleans and the generous people of the U.S.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:40 pm
Responding to Benjamin Whiskey, and nodding in agreement with Lou Herbert, disasters happen. There are plenty of cities that live dangerously, so to speak, not least of which is New York for its financial center and high population. It’s up to the residents of that location whether to rebuild or not. If you don’t like your tax dollars spent on it, fine, write your congressman. But the precedent is there, and it’s assinine to favor one natural disaster with your tax dollars and disregard another. Miami should maybe relocate? Or as Lou suggests, how about LA? New York, for the terrorist target that it is?
The discussion is a bit ridiculous because few politicians would abandon a city in such great need.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:49 pm
Oh Jeff, please. Brett’s right. Now’s not the time to ask. And your reasoning — that Congress was ready to write a check tomorrow — isn’t sound. Even if they passed a law tomorrow, who knows if the south would actually see the money. Go back to worrying about the WTC site.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:13 am
In these times of American hyper-partisanship, even the response to an act of God like hurricane Katrina is revealing.
For the full story, see:
“Hurricanes, Divine Retribution and the Right.”
August 31st, 2005 at 12:36 am
This is not a 100 year event. New Orleans hash survived for 300 years.
New Orleans will survive, in tact. This is a disgusting, pathetic bit of rhetoric. Someone has been watching too much cable news. Did Wolf Biltzer get your panties in a bunch?
You’re not going to be able to legislate New Orleans away. It is one of the oldest cities in America. It is older than America, with dedicated citizens, old families, it is a working city. Those are not second homes, those are working homes. These are not vacation condos. The Gulf Coast is a working coast. It is vital to the U.S economy. Oil, refineries, shipping, river transport, drainage.
Where else are you going to put it? How about we pave over some of Connecticut and build a few refineries?
We still can’t move the Gulf reserves, though.
The question is whether or not Louisiana is going to get serious about restoring the costal wetlands that have served to protect New Orleans for all these years. There’s a reason New Orleans has survived for so long, and a reason that it has become vulnerable now. The citizens of Louisiana have been grappling with this issue for a long time, and now, hopefully, the nation will make the investments necessary to protect this vital infrastructure.
It amazes me how in the midst of disaster such a question can be asked. As if you’ve suddenly become aware of the threats to this region, and oh, I think I’ll have to decide whether or not it lives or dies. Please review these coments, and tell us, Yankee, what fate you’ve chosen for this bothersome bit of news.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:56 am
What a ridiculous question. As someone mentioned upthread, would we pick up and leave Los Angeles after a massive ‘quake? Would we deny them Federal Disaster Aid? I mean, they DID choose to build their city on a fault line, after all.
And St. Louis. Man, the next time they flood because of record snowmelt upriver, let ‘em swim for it and abandon the Gateway to the West in place. It’ll only flood again.
Seattle? Hey - they KNEW there were active volcanos nearby. Why should the federal government pay for the ash cleanup?
For those who would deny Federal Aid to flood victims…think about who helped to create the problem we’re seeing in New Orleans. By forcing the levees higher and higher along the river to protect commercial shipping and communities near the river, the corps of engineers has helped to create this problem. They petitioned the Bush administration for money last year to help solve it, but were denied because we are currently spending all our money rebuilding Iraq.
The “looting” loop CNN keeps playing shows blacks leaving a store carrying…
Diapers. Candybars. Water. More diapers. Yeah, they’re really depraved. Most likely, they are stealing the items they need to survive. What would you do if you were unable to evacuate? I’m really shocked by how many people in the last few days who react like this to massive tragedy.
Shame on the massively and disproportionately poor in New Orleans for not having enough money to afford a car like everyone else - a car they could fill for a hundred bucks, and drive to Houston to stay in a $90/night hotel for four weeks.
And shame on the people in this thread who think we should abandon the most historically rich city in the United States, cut off federal aid to flood victims, and convict some of the poorest people in the nation because they broke into a drugstore and stole a package of pampers.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:06 am
Well. First, it Is too soon to ask.
Second, the question itself may be a moot point. I’m sorry to ask another pesky question, but will it even be possible to rebuild? Efforts to plug the dyke have failed and have been abandoned at last report. When the pumps fail, it’s reported that 9 more feet of water will fill the tub. According to the lengthy article cited by Jeff a few days ago (it seems like years now), science says the only realistic way to drain the tub is to dynamite 1/2 mile of the levees. That’s doable, obviously. But I don’t know the area well enough to know where the water would drain To at that point - back into the same lakes or river the levees were supposed to keep out? Pumping (alone) apparently would take eons. Maybe it’s all pretty easy and ‘doable’? If so, please disregard my question..
My main concern Now (aside from little matters like destroyed lives, including immediate family members) is how the rest of those there are going to be evacuated, with only one egress point available, with no way to even communicate to them (bullhorns from boats and helicopters?) the status of the failed levees or the Newest order to evacuate. And there’s that matter of those 10,000 in the dome surrounded by a rising moat. Better bring in the amphibious vehicles and boats. How many can they carry at a time? What about the other 10’s of thousands with no way out? Will there EVER be a body count for this tragedy?
Talk about ghosts from above ground crypts in NOLA…they now have much more company.
A three foot shark has been spotted, as were cops stealing shoes at Walmart without batting an eyelash. And then there’s the celebrated-with-fanfare, multi-million dollar, newly-built levee which ended up failing and drowning the city (correct me if it’s not the same levee section)…. O the memories of all stripes many of us will always carry for magical NO.
Emeril was no dummy to ‘expand’ to Vegas. Fact is, NOLA is ALREADY a distributed city. From the million or so who already evacuated and lost their homes, livelihoods and all earthly possessions, to the patients being ferried to hospitals all over the state, to those walking out on foot to who knows where…. By the time it’s drained and fit for rebuilding/habitation, the distributed will have already rebuilt their lives somewhere else.
Perhaps a french quarter reunion some day would be nice. Muddy glass bottom boat tours, complete with alligators and crawfish feasts.
Who can even bear the thought of no more NO? I cannot. But it may not [ultimately] even be feasible to resurrect this particular piece of our heart.
…I need to find some wedding pictures and pics of my three neices for my sister and her husband, who just lost too many layers and pieces of their lives to count. But memories of the heart are the most precious of all. And if that’s where NOLA ends up, one way or the other she and her ghosts will live on.
Oh God. A prison uprising now…people carrying rifles in the streets…fires. It ain’t so easy in the big easy any more.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:41 am
will it even be possible to rebuild?
Good gawd…it’s been THIRTY SIX HOURS.
Yeah, sure — I say we go ahead and dynamite all the levees and just inundate a 300 year old city, seeing as how we haven’t been able to bring the psychos to heel AND dry everything out in time for the Labor Day revellers.
Christ, people make me tired sometimes.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:41 am
Jeff,
Since you’ve been to New Orleans so often, I’m surprised you forgot to mention the port. There will be a port somewhere near the mouth of the Mississippi for reasons that should be obvious. If there is a port of this size, there will inevitably be a city around it. Does a port have to be literally in the exact same location? Perhaps not, but who’s gonna move it and why? Also there is much other commerce in New Orleans with the oil and gas industry. The city itself has been rife with corruption and has chronic economic problems, but it is ignorant to speak of only the city and not the metro area which is not as economically bad off but wouldn’t exist without the city.
The question is really the planning that should go into the reconstruction. That is unclear and is too soon to know. Yes, New Orleans has many problems, but to simply say it’s federal money down the drain and I’m not spending my tax dollars for this is silliness. I’m a small government advocate, but if government doesn’t exist for these kinds of efforts, then what is it existing for? Repeal the pork barrel highway bill and divert it to this effort. Or better yet, declare a moritorium on allowing Robert Byrd to spend anything. Soon there’ll be plenty of money for New Orleans.
New Orleans (or some substitute) is vital to the economy of the country. Sure you can bulldoze the city and tell everyone to go live someplace else or tell them to go to hell-as some in the comments are implying. But there will be a port somewhere in that area. A large port will create a substantial city. So call it whatever you like, but there will be a New Orleans.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:48 am
Scott, please. Read the lengthy article Jeff originally provided re what would be feasible alternatives if the basin filled. Too tired to find and quote sections to you now.
I’m on your side as I think she MUST be rebuilt if at all possible.
Peace. Prayers.
August 31st, 2005 at 2:54 am
Oh God, again and again into infinity. I agree with RightofCenter in an earlier comment in which he/she said we’re getting (something to the effect of) staged or sugar coated news. I had thought the same..
I just saw pictures of the state of I 10 outside NO on Nightline. Hence the ‘only one way in/out access’ at this point…
God please help the current survivors of Katrina.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:57 am
Before talking about rebuilding, first someone needs to get the Mayor to find a way to evacuate the people who can’t drive. I have not seen a single announcment on how they are going to get them out - or what people should do it they don’t have a car and want to leave.
Why weren’t buses and trucks commandered before the streets were flooded out today? Why were’t pick-up places arragned tonight for trucks and buses to get people out before even more streets are closed?
And why did Nagin say again tonight that if it wasn’t for last night’s breaks - all utilities would have been restored in one to two weeks?
August 31st, 2005 at 6:24 am
Brady - The streets are closed. There is no way out of New Orleans right now except for helicopter. (I’m watching the feed off of WDSU.) People are being told to seek higher ground, or to stay put, if they are high enough above sea-level. The best coverage I’ve found is at http://wdsu.com/, the have a streaming news broadcast, and the coverage is measured, responsible. Interviews are long and detailed, I heard Nagan’s entire interview from last night, for example. He, Nagan, reported that no actual work was done on the levee yesterday. Someone redirected the helicopter that was going to drop the 3,000 lb. sandbags.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:27 am
for Pat Robertson And Jerry Faldwell.
oh my God… New Orleans like Sodoma and Gomorra?? …what means decadent lifestyle?
I think that the spirit who live into tha american people help to rebuilt the beautiful New Orleans.
(sorry for my bad english)
Valeforn (from Italy)
August 31st, 2005 at 6:55 am
Do you know, I seriously doubt that the native Orleanaise are going to ask anyone’s opinion about whether they rebuild or not. As one who accepts the good the bad and the ugly of her hometown and lives there anyway, don’t I just expect they’re going to come back and maybe build a little sounder homes. In some countries, houses are built on tall piers - like in the bayous. Good planning.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:58 am
Of course New Orleans will be rebuilt and it will be even better than before. Its in the human kind, in human nature to rebuilt that city…
Can anyone imagine by the time the next earthquake hits San Francisco, what everybody knows but when, we would tell those people they have to relocate? 10 million people from California? And then 15 million people from L.A. to, because it could happen there to? No way.
To give up is not the american spirit or the american dream.
Greetings from Germany, love to all of you, sorry that I can’t be there to help, Simona
August 31st, 2005 at 9:07 am
link
http://www.comics.com/creators/othercoast/archive/images/othercoast2915650050801.gif
August 31st, 2005 at 9:34 am
What about sending in all those riverboats that are running gambling operations, to pick up and ‘evactuate’ the stranded people in NO?
Maybe even some television ‘preachers’ would relent.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:01 am
This is what I love about the Internet, people can seriously have a non-debate. It shows how much time we Americans actually have on our hands.
New Orleans will be there 300 years from now, too. There’s a lot of love in and for the Crescent City. Folly sure. Love is full of folly. We need, as I said earlier in this thread, a little more benigh madness in this world. That other kind of madness led to the Corps of Engineers not being able to get funded to complete their work on the levees to begin with. The money was needed to rebuild Iraq, instead, some of us thought at the time.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:49 am
“The Gulf Coast is a working coast. It is vital to the U.S economy. Oil, refineries, shipping, river transport, drainage.
Where else are you going to put it? How about we pave over some of Connecticut and build a few refineries?”
Alan, I particularly loved that sentence about paving over. Too true. All these nasty ole refineries and rigs can’t ruin the landscape for the loudest shouters about the “price of oil”. They sure a lot uglier than those offensive windmills. Don’t build a refinery around us and polute the air!! Don’t ruin Alaska with them. Don’t go nuke. On and on but we want cheap oil. Yep, I suspect we will do NO a grand favor and rebuild.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:52 am
I’m sorry, Eileen…I didn’t mean to pick on you. It’s just WAY too early for punditing about how/why/when to rebuild. This kind of knee-jerk talk results in rushed decisions, made with incomplete information.
August 31st, 2005 at 11:03 am
So where in the country… in the WORLD… are you gonna live? Tsunamis. Hurricanes. Tornados. Floods. Droughts. Earthquakes. Mud slides. Dust storms. Blizzards. Wildfire. Extreme heat. Extreme cold. I defy you to name ANY location that is not susceptible to a hundred year, or even a ten year event.
Before we abandon New Orleans, we should seriously consider whether the cities Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago should be allowed to exist. All three are foul holes prone to both natural and man-made disasters, and by ANY standard merit the bulldozer.
August 31st, 2005 at 11:38 am
As a horse racing professional and fan, yes rebuild New Orleans.
But beyond that petty reason, I still think it should be rebuilt. Like many people said before, if we are going to dump money into Iraq, Florida, New York City, Israel, and the entire coast of North Carolina, we can rebuild people’s homes in the Big Easy.
And oh where are the Lousiana and Mississippi National Guardsmen? 50% of them are in Iraq rebuilding their cities (per washingtonpost.com.)
August 31st, 2005 at 12:08 pm
It makes no difference about whether New Orleans should be rebuilt. It will be. It was not just a pointless town. It was a major US sea port. It has one of the only harbors to allow the giant super tankers (idiot). Those who think New Orleans was just a tourist trap are ignorant idiots indeed. Wait till the full impact reaches you in your landlocked hill countries. 25% or more of US trade passed through that spot. The other ports are already backed up with shipping that has to wait in long lines.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:21 pm
New Orleans should be abandoned and perhaps turned into some sort of ‘Atlantis’ theme park. Actually half the city should be dredged up to fill in the other half to where it is above sea level – then the newly created hole should become part of a new harbor. But hey, while we are at it – using logic, why is it everyday millions of Americans drive past millions of other Americans driving the opposite way going to work? Why not pass a law penalizing businesses that hire employees who live more than 20 miles from their location? In short order the population would shift to match the correct fit, and the USA could save billions of barrels of oil every year. Ah, but logic has never played a role in civilization since the fall of the Peruvian Empire.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:43 pm
Look on the bright side, this destruction will create 10 to 15 years of construction jobs on a massive scale. It will serve as a magnet for every hammer swinger and saw-man from coast to coast. In short order you will see the illegal immigration drop off in your area as Mexicans head south to where the work is. And better yet, many of the banjo-strumming white-trash that populates your areas will likewise march toward the sound of the air-hammers thundering in New Orleans.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:46 pm
Just to throw more gas on the flame. I wonder how much better the situation would have been if our Army reservists had been available to help instead of off fighting a war against the people we were “liberating”.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:54 pm
I agree with Dennis. It’s hard to believe that all of you who want New Orleans to cease to exist because of the monetary cost to the country forget that it’s one of the most important ports in the country and is home to a large portion of the domestic oil industry.
If Boston could fill in the Back Bay in the 1800’s then New Orleans can fill in as well and rebuild on top. Just leave the French Quarter alone. It seems to be doing fine as it is.
Also, this rebuilding could be a blessing in disguise. You could argue that one of the reasons there’s so much crime in N.O. is because of the Broken Window theory (see: The Tipping Point). If it’s all rebuilt and pretty and smelling good, maybe crime will drop. And the rebuilding jobs will give people something to do and a way to make money.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:01 pm
“Why not pass a law penalizing businesses that hire employees who live more than 20 miles from their location?’
Because we’re not a totalitarian state? Some of us actually believe in freedom!
August 31st, 2005 at 1:14 pm
Look on the bright side: at least the streets don’t smell like piss now.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:47 pm
Interesting comments, but they really don’t matter. New Orleans is going to be rebuilt, just like all those houses on the Florida barrier islands. People aren’t rational about things like this; never have been, never will be. Might as well get used to it.
August 31st, 2005 at 2:15 pm
How about we rebuild Detroit instead? Detroit is now the nation’s most impoverished city, beating Newark, El Paso, Atlanta, Miami, and Long Beach. If we rebuild it, I promise it won’t be destroyed in a hurricane.
August 31st, 2005 at 2:25 pm
Why not finish draining Lake P. and then move the city UP above the lake this time. You always want the water bodies BELOW where you live.
Or with the new eminent domain take in a few square miles and build it right this time. Just move it up a bit. Galveston rebuilt the entire island up 17 Feet after the 1903 ‘cain.
With the 26 Billion coming from Insurance that would be a start and require everyone to build in the new city North and away from the coaset. Taxpayers are starting to catch on to this scam. And it becoming tiresome.
August 31st, 2005 at 2:56 pm
I’m with you on this one, Jeff. And now is precisely the time to be discussing this, while the nation’s attention is fixed upon it. If we wait a few weeks, until everybody is resettled and there has been time to bring back sentimentality over every brick, the talk will become less about public safety and more about taxpayers’ burdens.
I like the idea of turning it into a touristy (Vegas style) city. I wonder if anybody would consider, though, allowing the water to run through it, as an American Venice? That could solve the flooding concerns, and at the same time, control growth and its accompanying environmental problems. They could build a tighter, smaller levee around the old French Quarter, if necessary, and let the rest of the city flow.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:01 pm
If they are going to rebuild this city, then they should raise the ground level by 12 feet. It’s not a smart idea to be stuck at sea level between the gulf and a giant lake. Every historical landmark and building could easily be jacked up to the new city level. Most everything else should be used as land fill.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:15 pm
Explain how to “rebuild” Detroit, please. If you’ve got an answer for that one, I’d love to hear it.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:15 pm
I’m for the middle road here.
By all means rebuild it. I can’t imagine our nation without NO. Its simply unimaginable. God what a loss for us if so.
Just build it better. Abandon the low ground whereever possible. rebuild on higher ground.
Itmay not be an informed opinion but I am in the camp with those who realize the importance of the soul that NO has and that soul emanates from it precisely because it isnt plastic and masterplanned etc.
Dublin Ireland was once a filthy mess but it was one of the most wonderful and fun places I have ever been. I liked how mucky it was. It was genuine at the very least. Now its all gleaming and clean. You can breath clean air in the pubs. The magic has mostly fled. It breaks my heart to even think of NO rebuilt as some kind of Disneyfied resort. Rebuild it folks. I’m willing to pay for it as long as its rebuilt smart.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:20 pm
BTw.
I glad that new low income housing for the poor folks of the city will be have to be built. If there is any silver lining to this and if it isnt crass to suggest it, this would be it. Would to God that a storm like this wasnt necessary for this to happen.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:26 pm
First, I’d like to say that my heart and soul goes out to all the people who are suffering in the great city of New Orleans.
I’ve never been to New Orleans, but like many people around the US, I enjoy the food, music/culture, and know a little about the history of New Orleans.
I agree with the people who have said that it’s important to rebuild the city of New Orleans.
I don’t think its a question of if the city will be rebuilt, it’s probably a question of how it can be done. Even if this means that just the French Quarter and a couple of other areas survive and nature takes back the rest. We’ve go to let go if we have to (of course that’s a hell of a lot easier for me to say several hundred feet above sea level).
August 31st, 2005 at 4:09 pm
The city will be be rebuilt and what you think or say about how, why, where etc will be of little of no interest to those politicians who will get big tax bucks to doi the rebuilding. I would suggest putting Haliburton in charge of it. They seem central to any financing and rebvuilding that takes place.
August 31st, 2005 at 4:12 pm
Chances are, the “new” New Orleans will look an awful lot like the rest of America. If you think people are going to rebuild creaky mansions, forget it. It is lucky that the French Quarter survived, because that is going to be the only place left that looks distict. Lets hope the “spirit” of New Orleans lies in its people, because the buildings are going to start to look like everywhere else.
August 31st, 2005 at 4:30 pm
But… Having visited the city often in my last job, I was always struck by its poverty and its lack of a workable economy. Tourism is pretty much the only industry. The food is great. The attitude is fun. But big companies had left.
What does any of this have to do with Katrina? I suspect a large part of No’s economic issues are rooted in La adherence to Napoleonic code instead of British common law.
August 31st, 2005 at 4:38 pm
I don’t think it makes any econonmic, logical, safety sense to rebuild New Orleans. The next hurricane that levels it could be 100 years away or just next summer. There has to be a safe place in Louisianna that the people of New Orleans can be relocated to.
August 31st, 2005 at 5:49 pm
Not Venice, San Antonio. Jeff, what would you think of letting canals run Thru It in NO. Sounds like a good plan. And a good use of the victims, to let them sign up to put in canals, as the CCC did for San Antonio.
Of course, I also like the concept of sending the riverboats that now house gambling operations in to pick up victims.
August 31st, 2005 at 7:58 pm
What we should do is bomb the levees, let the water find its natural level, then rebuild. But we won’t.
August 31st, 2005 at 8:12 pm
How many years have people been aware of the potential of a levee break? Bush Co. cut off funding for the levee to help pay for the bombing of Iraq, where will they yank the $$ from this time to pay for this relief effort? These guys are penny-wise and pound-foolish. It’s gonna cost 100x as much as building proper levee’s now.
“History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men.” - B.O.C.
Go Go Godzilla indeed.
August 31st, 2005 at 8:34 pm
Gunther said: “I wonder if you’d be so quick to suggest abandonment and relocation of New Orleans if the people affected were predominantly white rather than black?”
So, because most of these people are black, they should be condemned to live in a below sea level, flood prone area which has no industry (jobs) except tourism, subject in future years further cataclysm?
The historic area has fared relatively well. It sits high enough that it could be protected from future clamity. Rebuild it. The rest of the city was mostly a poverty stricken slum, prone to disaster. Let nature have it back. Rebuild the rest of the city in a location less prone to natural disaster, more prone to viable industry, and the poor blacks won’t be so poor.
If we are going to spend billions of dollars to rebuild (we will, and rightly so), why not do it right? Relocate.
August 31st, 2005 at 8:50 pm
Alan G., I agree. How on earth would one rebuild Detroit? Let me ask the question another way, if we could only rebuild one city, which should it be: New Orleans, which will surely flood again, or Detroit, which will continue to drain the taxpayer dollars in welfare and other ways if it goes on as is?
It’s a thought experiment, not a real question.
August 31st, 2005 at 9:12 pm
Why on earth would anyone want to rebuild New Orleans? I’m tired of subsidizing all these idiots that live in disaster prone areas. We’ve spent 12 Trillion dollars rebuilding disaster areas over the years… and for what? We understand that with oceans becoming warmer that these areas are just going to be pleted harder and more regularly every season.
The risk equation is changing, and it will cost more to rebuild New Orleans and make it safe than it would probably cost to house twice the popluation elsewhere.
August 31st, 2005 at 9:51 pm
I’m maintaining a blog list of bloggers asking the tough questions regarding the rebuilding of New Orleans. There’s precedence for relocations established during the 1993 Mississippi floods.
Bloggers on the list are advocating a humanitarian, yet responsible discussion on the future of New Orleans.
[And no it's not to early to be discussing this when politicians might succumb to the emotions of the moment and start making all types of promises to rebuild a city located in a floodplain]
Db’s sentiments above (http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2005/08/30/should-new-orleans-be-rebuilt/#comment-3456) just about hit the mark dead on on the arguments against rebuilding.
Please point any like-minded bloggers that would like to be added to the list over my way at:
http://porkopolis.blogspot.com/2005/08/discussions-on-alternatives-to.html
Part of what has to be done is contact Senators and Congressman to let them know there’s another way to help those in need.
Porkopolis
August 31st, 2005 at 10:03 pm
I feel very fortunate that I was able to visit NO twice in a six-month span a few years ago (and once as a child with my parents, not as fun that time). It was one of the most enjoyable times I have ever spent visiting another city. The last time I was there we got to go to a huge warehouse where many of the Mardi Gras floats are kept, I can only imagine they haven’t held up very well.
So while I feel great sorrow and sadness for the people and city of NO I couldn’t help thinking about what they should do. I can’t fathom the complexity of pumping the water out, rebuilding the levees, rebuilding the city. I live near Grand Forks, ND that experience something similar but on a much smaller scale a few years back. They’re still rebuilding and they had the fortune of having the water leave on it’s own. How the hell do you pump all that water out?
Anyway. My first thought was just leave it, let it flood but at the same time let people move there if they want, offer no gov’t help, nothing…let it turn into some crazy Waterworld/Mad Max/Escape From New York society. A couple decades from now we’d have one of the craziest cities in the world. But I came to my senses and realized that wouldn’t be the safest or sanest thing.
That’s when I, like a few earlier posts suggested, thought of turning it into an American version of Venice. Don’t try to beat nature, take what it gives you and work with it. If you insist on building your city in a hole surrounded by water, embrace it and build on stilts.
So even with saying that I’d have to say it may have been a tad early to start talking about this…but what are you gonna do?
August 31st, 2005 at 10:31 pm
Not only should it be rebuilt, but it should be made better. Thats like asking if the twin towers should be rebuilt. Of course they should, taller and stronger than before. The same can be done for New Orleans…
August 31st, 2005 at 10:31 pm
Put me in the “No” column on the question. It’s folly to treat Mother Earth with such hubris and contempt.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:46 pm
Oh Lord, lose the black-white racial argument. This country abandoned poor blacks decades ago. The question is: can NO be abandoned without rich whites losing their minds?
Rich whites left Newark, Detroit, El Paso, Atlanta a long time ago and nobody cared one whit.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:55 pm
Please, people. Let’s not let our romantic notions get in the way of reality. It’s great that we have wonderful memories of New Orleans…but it’s gone! To equate the rebuilding of New Orleans wth reconstruction of something at the site of the the twin towers (two buildings) is ludicrous. Our lack of education, common sense, and grasp of economics is showing. Rebuild it somewhere above sea level, for God’s sake. Otherwise, this will happen again at some point, folks. This was predicatable — and predicted — by people with a brain and knowledge of basic science. Get a grip and move forward. Let’s not wallow in our horrible errors in judgment. And by the way, to place this at the door of our dear leader Bush is to again show the limitlessness of ignorance and political partisanship (please note, I’m a life-long Democrat). The potential for this very catastrophe has been known for decades — through administrations of both parties — and absolutely nothing has been done by any of them. So get your head out of your hind-quarters. Excessive partisanship is what will sink us all if we’re not careful.
August 31st, 2005 at 11:18 pm
Right on, Mugsiewugsie!
August 31st, 2005 at 11:48 pm
Because people are still being rescued and the dead have not yet been picked up, I would suggest that this topic be shelved for a while.
There are questions that need to be asked and addressed. Now is not the time.
August 31st, 2005 at 11:51 pm
I have this feeling…..most of the people who post here, voicing their opinion that NO should not be rebuilt do not live in Louisiana or any southern state, for that matter. Are you not familiar with our undying affection for lost causes?
Furthermore, it’s necessary that a city should stand at the mouth of the Mississippi River. How it’ll be rebuilt - that’s another matter. Even the people that’ll cry for New Orleans may not want to see it in the same form, or when it is rebuilt (undoubtedly to be much uglier and more modern) will not visit it. New Orleans is over as we know it - however, every liberal, northerner, “rational” poster on here should know the people of Louisiana (or the south) will not give a flying sh** about rationalizations and all this tax-related selfishness…..we’ll build it back if every body has to come out with his/her hammer and piece of plywood, on our own dollar.
that is the meaning of loyalty. we’re a people with a past, not rootless chaff floating around, feeding off new environments like parasites without leaving anything valuable there. Preserving the past is the responsibility of the current generation.
August 31st, 2005 at 11:54 pm
Well, you made me do it. I had to write an requiem from New Orleans, since so many of you want to see it gone. Then I got angry. (oops!) Didn’t mean to, but I started thinking about some of the things I read here about that city and the next thing I knew —
You can read it here if you wish.
September 1st, 2005 at 12:28 am
Right on, RB,
It’s just too soon. First things first!
I wish your post, Jeff, had been titled How Do We Save the Living? As always, I respect your blog and what you choose to post, but come on……! How about all the issues this spawns regarding Automatic Mobilization in any region of the country related to natural disasters or other crises? What about Automatic provisions for providing food and water - without waiting for the Salvation Army or Red Cross to somehow get their lunch wagons through rubble or God knows what - which should be actuated within 12 hours by land, air or water? I see a lot of ‘lessons’ to be learned here, long before we focus on questions of rebuilding.
How about a master plan regarding how we deal with looters and other predictable results of people in trauma without resources?
Why not put the brains in this forum to work on saving what’s left of the poor souls in NO before we focus on questions of resurrection.
September 1st, 2005 at 1:28 am
Just let it die. New Orleans is sinking more and more each decade, and this will happen again. Condem the whole thing, plow it under, and rebuild somewhere higher. I understand the history, the culture and attachment that people have to the city, but if it were moved to higher ground and a planned city with a better and more organized infrastructure could be built , the business and employment would return.
September 1st, 2005 at 1:57 am
Sure, go ahead an rebuild it. But not with taxpayers money. I don’t think the insurance companies should have to insure them- why should ever US homeowner who pays insurance have to suffer because people choose to live in an environmentally unsuitable place that offers no productivity to the US economy!
September 1st, 2005 at 2:29 am
I think that db (August 30th, 2005 at 9:12 pm ) said it best - effectively that no matter the glorious historical significance, New Orleans was built in an extremely unfortunate (unworkable, dumb) location. This neo-con (me) is forced to side with the “don’t build major urban centers in swamps” crowd (especially if you are going to put them under sea level).
I sense that we’re going to be getting into the half-trillion plus dollar range either way (cleaing up and rebuilding in place VS. cleaning up and rebuilding above sea level), and I can’t see investing this much dough in a losing proposition.
Fate may have put NO there the first time, but I sure hope we’re not foolish enough to put it back below sea level the second time.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:16 am
Over the past three days, I have watched floodwaters destroy my home. We have not buried our dead, and the ghouls already want to abandon New Orleans.
I will not have a home for the next three months; if we don’t rebuild New Orleans, then can I and 1.2 million of my neighbors come live with you? Can we relocate our refining capacity and petrochemical facilities in your backyard?
I am tired and frustrated, so I really don’t want to talk about logic; I want to scream and curse at those who don’t want to rebuild my city. Do you think you’re immune to natural disaster? Are you so blessed that earthquakes, flood, terrorist attacks, blizzards, and tornadoes avoid you like the plague?
But let’s be logical for a moment: The U.S. needs a port in south Louisiana, unless you forget about using the Mississippi River. For those of you who only want to rebuild the port above sea level, then we’ll build a second port north of the Port of Baton Rouge. I hate to remind you, but most of the Gulf Coast is under sea level.
For those of you who want to plow New Orleans under and salt the ground, how much of opinion is based upon your knowledge of the city (and its economy–oh yes, one of the largest ports in the world provides no economic benefit to the United States) and how much is based upon seeing the looters on rampage around Canal Street? The dark part of my heart wants your home to suffer the disaster specific to your region so that heart-ache replaces your fat smugness; instead, I hope and pray that you will never have to go through what I am going through.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:15 am
RXWhite: My heart goes out to you and I’m sorry that I have nothing more to offer than those empty words.
I’m not sayiing that New Orleans should be abandoned. But I am asking whether rebuilding it as was is the best solution and whether it is responsible to put people at this risk again. So I’m asking how it should be rebuilt.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:29 am
First, let me say to rxwhite and every other person directly affected by this disaster how very sad and concerned I am at the dangerous predicament in which they find themselves, not to mention the horrific loss they have suffered. I have watched the news constantly with tears in my eyes, and yes, I immediately made a substantial donation to disaster relief.
I will state unequivocally that these people need immediate and long term solutions to the difficult problems that they face.
That said, here is my question. And to repeat myself, I can well understand and appreciate the desparate circumstances faced by those affected and this is not meant to seem at all insensitive to their needs and desire to get back to their homes and neighborhoods just as soon as possible.
There are tens and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. It will cost billions and take years to rebuild the homes directly in danger of a repeat disaster (living 20 feet under sea level, one can never feel comfortable that it will not happen again in our lifetime). There is the immediate need to house all of these people, provide them with food and the means to survive and thrive. Just dealing with the evacuees/refugees or whatever the latest politically correct term is to describe the victims will cost more billions. And for how long? I doubt that there will be anything like normalcy for a very long time. When faced with the magnitude of the problem, the facts are sobering. Just safely restoring power to the neighborhoods will take months and millions of dollars.
There is existing housing stock throughout the US that is vacant and otherwise for sale. These are great homes in wonderful communities that can immediately accommodate these folks. Rather than putting an unprecedented strain on Houston, Tennessee and other adjacent areas and their school and public welfare systems, each of these areas around the country could absorb the handful of students and families without much of an effect on their local economies.
From a cost and efficiency standpoint, does it make sense to spend the restoration money instead on the immediate relocation of these folks to areas where they can quickly get on with their lives, rather than placing them in what will certainly be intolerable conditions for months until who knows what happens with their homes? Remember also all the businesses that were closed and will never re-open, so the local economy will be in a state of ruin for ages. Tourism, the largest or second largest industry in the area will likely not rebound for years.
How long will it take for the neighborhood that needs to be rebuilt to also have the new grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure needed to sustain those homes?
This disaster creates a terrific dilemma for our citizens, lawmakers, those affected and those far away — what is the best solution for everyone, not just those directly affected, but as well those who will pay the price in economic terms as well? It is very hard to find the correct balance between bringing people back to their homes and the costs. I do not envy the task of those who must make these very difficult decisions.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:06 am
marly
“Preserving the past is the responsibility of the current generation.”
No wonder the south is so backward… it’s one thing to be a keeper of history, and a completely other thing to be so disgustingly sentimental, it eclipses your ability to be reasonable. When people are calling to rebuild before they’ve even done the math, that’s just stupidity.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:57 am
On Chrismas Day 1974 the northern Australian city of Darwin was hit by Cyclone “Tracy” The city was flattened and the population had to be evacuated to cities to the south of Australia. An ex Australian army general was called in to administer the city under almost martial law. The city was rebuilt with Austrlalian taxpayers money and today has a population about three times it was in 1974.The buildings there are built to resist cyclone damage and the city of Darwin is now a thriving and vibrant place. In 1963 the US Navy established a submarine communications base at Exmouth in Western Australia and all the accomodation unuts were cyclone resitant Early tis century a cyclone went very close to Exmouth and none of the houses were damaged.
It would be a a shame that your country with all its weathly and “yankee” ingenuity were to desert and abandon Nouvelle Orleans
September 1st, 2005 at 8:06 am
New Orleans definitely needs to be rebuilt if for no other reason than Houston doesn’t want to keep the gang bangers that are currently coming here with the storm refugees. Selfish or not, this Houstonian wants them to be able to go back as soon as possible.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:14 am
What a BRILLIANT(!) idea. Let’s spend a trillion dollars to rebuild a city on the Gulf Coast BELOW sea level. As Forrest Gump’s mama used to say, “Stupid is, as stupid does.”
Just declare the New Orleans bowl Lake New Orleans and make it a monument to American stupidity. Rebuild on high ground.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:19 am
I think that “benjaminkwhiskey” had it right. We need to rebuild around the French quater and what little of New Orlean’s is above sea level. Try to preserve what history we can, but to expect it to be anything like before is just stupid.
I have been to New Orleans several times and loved every bit of it, but it is a place not meant to exist. With most of the city lying below sea level you would just be asking for death and destruction to come again were you to rebuild in those areas.
This is nothing like the Chicago Fire or this Australian city and its Cyclone. Those are isolated incidences not likely to happen again. The pleople of New Orleans have known that their city lies in an area bombarded by hurricanes every year. They knew eventually “the big one” would come allong and take the city with it. Why would you rebuild knowning it would happen again?
You want to spend billions of dollars and give people homes in the city again. Then their deaths when this happens again (even if it is another 50 years) will be on your head. Yes, not rebuilding is partely about money, but it is also about saving lives.
The weather world wide has been “over active” in recent years. Our world is going through some changes and I believe we will see more drastic weather like this. I wish New Orleans still stood. I was relieved when it seemed they had been spared. But then the worst happened and we can not change that sad fact.
Would you let your government try to make money by playing russian roulette? That is what we’ll be doing if we rebuild New Orleans.
Be realistic about this. Sentiment won’t save lives.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:24 am
If we rebuild New Orleans, I will be convinced that humans are a terminal species.
“Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.”
“Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defense.” Lincoln
We must (in the present and in the future):
1. Stop trying to play God and beat Nature
a. I don’t care how charming it is, you don’t build a major city in a hurricane-prone, silt-fed delta and expect it to flourish. Last time I checked, sea levels were rising, hurricanes were stronger and more frequent, and New Orleans was SINKING.
and
2. Refuse to allow emotions dictate our decisions and instead rely on pure, natural reason.
a. I understand it’s a difficult thing to do, especially in this day in age. But above all, people need to stop, reflect, and act out of reason. We need to think with our minds and not with our hearts. Our minds cannot falter but our hearts can lead us astray. If you disagree and think we should rebuild New Orleans, think of the millions of people that will be hurt and disappointed the next time this happens. And it will be YOUR fault.
Of course, I think we’ll rebuild New Orleans because we’ll build those damn levees higher, pray for clear skies, and tell God to go screw himself because us humans are the best damn thing this Earth has ever known and all the natural laws that He’s created are bullshit compared to our destiny…
September 1st, 2005 at 9:31 am
Now I love Amos Moses and his allogator hunting ways… but I’m not going to pay him to lose his other arm out in the Bayou so I have to feed him his weight in groceries for the rest of his life.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:05 am
Imho this is the most ridiculous question to be asked in this time of emergency matters. Normally, only a real troll would post that kind of stuff. But ok, I’m a fan uf NuAwlins, let’s do it.
Firstly, ‘Is that the best use of our tax and insurance dollars?’. Well, let’s see if YOUR dollars are needed, Jeff, or if La could handle it alone.
‘The total gross state product in 2003 for Louisiana was $140 billion’ (wiki). The MSM quotes damages of about 25 billion dollars. Regarding this numbers (damages 18% of gsp), I guess that it should be possible for La to finance the reconstruction, if they wouldn’t have to send the taxes to Washington. Then it would be up to the people of Big Easy and the parishes to decide if the want to use THEIR money to rebuild, ok?
Secondly, I assume that you are living in NY now. Did you ask this question in regard to ground zero after 911? You seem to have lived in SanFrancisco, too. Did you engage in a discussion if it was right for the 1906 californians to rebuild the city in the same earthquake zone?
Thirdly, maybe you should concentrate on the question why the Bush administration prevented the people of Louisisiana from using more of THEIR tax dollars for flood prevention. It seems, repubs thought they have a better use for that money.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:16 am
Everyone’s right - and wrong.
First, I need to say how hurt I feel just looking at the pictures. The ruination is unfathomable. People will have strange thoughts, & being a musician, a bass player, I wondered how many basses were lost in this. It’s not trivial - sometimes a detail you care about brings the tragedy close to home.
The key is to look at this tragic disaster as both a regional & a national prooblem, because it is both. Of course, we need a port city at the Mississippi, & of course it is insane to build below sea level. A smaller, smarter New Orleans needs to be planned for. So does relocation.
Anyway, I identified myself as Clevelander to invite everyone to consider the Great Lakes. We are seismically sound, we are the greatest fresh water supply in the world, and our climate is temperate, though winter takes some getting used to. Here in Cleveland, housing is affordable & we are home to one of the world’s great orchestras & art museums. We have bautiful parks. When the southeast floods over & the southwest is parched to ruin, we’ll still be here.
Lastly, for people to be relocated, jobs need to be relocated. I have complete faith that ingenuity & unselfishness will rule, or do I? - these two things being in short supply in our nation’s capital.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:19 am
Interesting point of note, in the several press conferences I have heard given by the Federal officials responding to the disaster, including that of our Commander in Chief, not one of them has talked about rebuilding. Every word spoken is limited to rescue, recovery and providing relief.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:19 am
I think we should rebuid the city with gondolas and make it like Las Vegas to repay the other states that helped rebuild it.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:20 am
To some of you people that think we can “just raise it up a few feet” where are we going to get all of that dirt from? I agree with the people that say it is a good idea to rebuild it in the same place and build the buildings strong enough to withstand a category 5 hurricane.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:24 am
yes it should
September 1st, 2005 at 10:25 am
west side locos
September 1st, 2005 at 10:26 am
(1) Pick an spot between two islands about halfway along the chain of Florida Keys. Draw a rectangle around the spot, maybe thirty miles long by 10 miles wide. The line defing the rectangle will probably be in open water; nonetheless, build a wall from the sea floor to maybe fifteen feet above the surface — a total of maybe 50 feet high.
(2) Pump out all the water from this huge bathtub.
Just let it die. New Orleans is sinking more and more each decade, and this will happen again. Condem the whole thing, plow it under, and rebuild somewhere higher. I understand the history, the culture and attachment that people have to the city, but if it were moved to higher ground and a planned city with a better and more organized infrastructure could be built , the business and employment would return
(3) Build a city on the dry bathtub floor, and move about a million people in. Wait for the next hurricane to drown them.
Repeat steps (2) and (3) about once every 100 years.
THAT is how stupid it is to rebuild New Orleans now, given the effective total destruction of city’s existing real estate.
Except it’s even stupider, because New Orleans has a huge elevated aqueduct (some call it the Mississippi River) running down the centerline of the bathtub. You gotta also agree that you’d have to be a dumbfuck or rich asshole to rebuild below sea-level. And of course nonexistant global warming has nothing to do with freak weather (â€oh, it goes in cycles and there’s no proof†- these muthafuckas need to be fed to the animals).
But while everyone’s just taking it up the butt (in a bad way) and whimpering about bargain gas prices (Chris Rock, keen as always, is right on message appealing to dumb, greedy, evil voters by hammering on gas prices)
But anyway, you just gotta wonder how intelligent it would be to design Newnew Orleans in its present location, when God obviously doesn’t want it there.Before talking about rebuilding, first someone needs to get the Mayor to find a way to evacuate the people who can’t drive. I have not seen a single announcment on how they are going to get them out - or what people should do it they don’t have a car and want to leave.
Why weren’t buses and trucks commandered before the streets were flooded out today? Why were’t pick-up places arragned tonight for trucks and buses to get people out before even more streets are closed?
And why did Nagin say again tonight that if it wasn’t for last night’s breaks - all utilities would have been restored in one to two weeks?
Like many people said before, if we are going to dump money into Iraq, Florida, New York City, Israel, and the entire coast of North Carolina, we can rebuild people’s homes in the Big Easy.
And oh where are the Lousiana and Mississippi National Guardsmen? 50% of them are in Iraq rebuilding their cities.
Let’s use disney’s money to do it.
Just let it die. New Orleans is sinking more and more each decade, and this will happen again. Condem the whole thing, plow it under, and rebuild somewhere higher. I understand the history, the culture and attachment that people have to the city, but if it were moved to higher ground and a planned city with a better and more organized infrastructure could be built , the business and employment would return
And i also think that the government needs to get off there ass and help there people out not saying in just New Orleans im saying across the United States in general.Yeah NewOrleans just got hit pretty hard and im sorry for there loss but they gotta move on the best that they can even if they did loose there house and car and all there personal belongings and move to a different state.But if it was vise versa and i was in this situation id want the government to help me get my home rebuilt and help me threw everything.But personally it isnt my problem so im not gonna stress it or get all worked up for it there is nothing i can do as a citezen of the U.S i have no say so in the matter and im not fased in any way by Katrina so like i said i really dont care no one i know lives there so it doesnt botther me but i gotta feel for the people and there familys and friends and kids all homeless and have no supplies.I mean everyones gotta feel for them at least a little bit i mean everyone gotta start all over from nothing and thats really hard so i dont know its pointless to spend billions to rebuild it if its just gonna happen again and again and keep spe
September 1st, 2005 at 10:27 am
[...] There’s a good discussion going on in the comments under my post asking how New Orleans should be rebuilt. [...]
September 1st, 2005 at 10:37 am
Maybe just maybe they won’t be able to rebuild New Orleans. It’s in a vulnerable location and there is nothing but mothing to stop a big storm coming in to the same area next month, next year - every year for the next ten years.
The big re-insurers are going to be looking at this very hard. The biggest, Munich Re, has been talking about not re-insuring risks in unstable climate areas for some time.
Without re-insurance, primary insurance doesn’t get written. Without primary insurance banks don’t lend for construction.
Looking at TV news on CNN, Fox etc out heart goes out to the victims. But the sight of grossly overweight people huffing and puffing out of their SUVs at gas stations in unaffected areas and bitching about gas prices is not edifying. You Americanos are going to have to undergo a paradigm shift. How are you going to pay for reconstruction whilst waging war on the peoples of the ME? How are you going to pay without raising taxes.
You have around a million people without homes, business and infrastructure. This is serious.
You have a President who cannot even read a speech about the disaster without stumbling. You have got problems.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:44 am
Some one has got to explain to me why we as the citizens of this great land have to rebuild the corupt & decidedly worst designed city in the world next to the Neterlands.
To Build a city below sea level is not wise let alone profitable.
If we the citizens of the United States are taxed to rebuild New Oleanes than I say move it to higher ground or build a sea wall that can withsand a catigory (5) storm.
To Rebuild in the same place is asking us all to render un to Cesar for the folly of Rome.
If money is to be spent it should be to relocate the inhabitants to higher ground & move the City else where.
This port is not feasable the way it is; Time to move on!
After all the French built it where it is how smart could it be to keep it there!
September 1st, 2005 at 10:54 am
These same questions will be asked when Las Vegas runs out of water or when the New Madras fault–potentially worse than the San Andreas–devatates cities up and down Middle America. Will our answer be the same?
September 1st, 2005 at 11:00 am
The point is simple. You can rebuild all you want, but it will not be New Orleans. It may have the name, but this high-quality cyclone-proof housing being discussed cannot possibly be paid for by the residents of the slums that were destroyed. These people cannot possibly pay for this type of housing, and if you think anyone is going to provide it to them gratis, you are mistaken. Even if they did, this would not create a New Orleans even remotely like the one that was before it. You would be building an entirely different city that would not welcome many of it’s poorer residents back.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:02 am
People are already wondering what effect Hurricane Katrina will have on the US economy. So far, most of the discussion I’ve seen has focused on very simplified Keynesian or GDP-based views of the economy, in which the resources that go into rebuilding New Orleans and the surrounding regions count as a net addition to economic activity.
As far as the national accounts go, this may be right. As the name says, GDP is a gross measure, which means it takes no account of depreciation, including the massive destruction caused by events like hurricanes. Depending on how things like insurance payouts are counted, there could easily be an increase in measured GDP. The main lesson from this is that, if you’re interested in economic welfare, don’t look at GDP.
But I don’t think the old-style Keynesian story, in which a reconstruction effort brings unused resources into use and thereby stimulates more economic activity, is likely to be applicable. I assume any injection of funds will come primarily from the national government, which is already running massive deficits, to the point where its capacity for fiscal stimulus is pretty much exhausted. The impact of any further expenditure will almost certainly offset, in part by cuts to other areas, but even more by tighter monetary policy and upward market pressure on interest rates.
The immediate reaction of oil prices shows how tightly stretched the entire market has become, but I don’t think the effect on supplies will be great enough to have much effect in the medium term (say in six months time). However, that’s just a guess.
The real problem I haven’t seen discussed much so far is what will happen if, as is now predicted, it takes three to six months to pump all the water out of the city of New Orleans. In the absence of well-designed and large-scale intervention, that would imply bankruptcy for the vast majority of private businesses based in the city. This in turn would imply unemployment for many people who might otherwise return, and a whole lot of second-round effects working through supply chains. It’s unclear what kind of economic activity will survive, beyond a tourist market centred on the French Quarter (apparently relatively undamaged).
Even in the best of all possible worlds it would be hard to design a policy response to a disaster of this magnitude and duration. In practice, based on recent past experience, I think we’re likely to see some impressive rhetoric, a lot of gigantic boondoggles as favoured interests cash in on the reconstruction program, but not much effective alleviation of hardship or coherent thinking about sustainable economic recovery.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:06 am
And the question is totally baseless. The Vieux Careé, or French Quarter, the motor for tourism in NO, isn’t seriously devastated. The Michoud works (space technology) is ok. I guess the same is true for many other job engines - except the casinos. Part of the damage will be covered by the insurances (and, Jeff, it’s the job of the insurance cos to calculate the risk and the premiums, if you don’t want your dollars to be used for NO, cancel your insurance).
I guess that many citzens won’t return after this experience. though, so NewAwlins will automatically be smaller. Not to mention the people who died in this preventable disaster.
But for the courageous citizen who will return and rebuild or stayed and struggle to get their business through the catastrophe (like the incredible team of DirectNIC), who is this Jeff Jarvis to deny them their right?
September 1st, 2005 at 11:11 am
I keep reading a recurring statement on this board. Arguments for not rebuilding NO and then the people that say we shouldn’t build any city that gets hit by a natural disater (flood, fire, earthquake). Here is my take on why NO doesn’t need to be rebuilt.
In most of the above scenarios, the locations where these disasters occur can start a rebuilding and recovery effort practically the next day. NO is still evacuating as we speak after 4 days. After other hurricanes, bulldozers, insurance agents, utility companies, and chainsaws are starting to do their job. After 4 days, south Florida (also hit by Katrina) has dried out and their residents are getting the help they need. They aren’t having to wait for 9 weeks for their area to be drained and for the Army Corp of Engineers to evaluate levees or health officials to determine that it’s safe to return. The same day that the San Francisco earthquake occurred, they were jackhammering the bridges and moving the rubble away. I don’t see that happening in NO.
NO’s location is a mistake. We all make them and sometimes they get us into trouble. Trying to justify rebuilding by saying it’s survived 300 years of existence doesn’t mean we should rebuild there again and perpetuate the mistake. NO’s location compounds the problem with a hurricane, nowhere else can that case be made.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:14 am
Clevelander, really a gr8 country where you live. Oly thing that seems to be improvable is the lection management. Don’t your countrymen just have some old coins to spare for people in need?
September 1st, 2005 at 11:16 am
Concerned, just think about that NO would be ok if the repubs hadn’t slashed the funds for flood prevention, ok?
September 1st, 2005 at 11:18 am
Should N.O. be re-built: NO.
Instead of pumping Federal dollars into re-building a city, (which will have to re-built again & again) money should be pumped into our school system and programs to help the poor. Get them food, jobs, good education, etc. Where will this $ come from?
Should our troops be pulled out of Iraq: YES! That will bring home lots of Federal dollars!
September 1st, 2005 at 11:20 am
Concerned, you miss the point. NO would be mostly ok now if the repubs hadn’t slashed the funds for flood prevention, ok?
September 1st, 2005 at 11:21 am
I really hope the people who are writing about how stupid it is to rebuild New Orleans because the geography isn’t sustainable aren’t writing from anywhere in California, anywhere in the desert, anywhere in Florida, or anywhere in Tornado Alley. Oh wait, that doesn’t leave anything left except possibly the Northeast and the Rockies. Since we’re discussing stupid places to build a city, how about Las Vegas? Or Phoenix? Can someone tell me one redeeming reason to live in Phoenix? At least New Orleans has some usefulness. Would it really be that hard to fill in 12 feet of dirt before we build? If Bostonians could do it in the 1800’s I really don’t see why we can’t figure it out in 2005.
Whether or not we should rebuild New Orleans seems like such an asinine question. Of course we should. You people act like it hasn’t been standing for 300 years. You act like it gets hit by a hurricane every year. San Francisco and LA face the same threat level as far as destruction capability goes. I don’t hear anyone saying we should bulldoze those cities. Can we stop having this discussion now? It’s completely stupid to even talk about. There’s no question it’ll be rebuilt. And while we’re doing it, maybe we’ll give the wetlands back which have been New Orleans natural hurricane buffer from day one.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:27 am
Concerned, just think about that NO would be ok if the repubs hadn’t slashed the funds for flood prevention, ok?
Catherine, the best post yet! Thx
Leslie, gr8 that your care for the poor. It’s the poor that are suffering most from Katrina. What’s your idea where to settle them? Alaska? I guess there are no hurricanes there.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:47 am
Michoud= 2,000 employees - in the scheme of things - nothing
September 1st, 2005 at 12:01 pm
Off Shore Pundit, you make some good points. Eventually, the market will answer Jeff’s question. Insurance premiums for buildings and assets that aren’t secure from hurricanes and floods will go up. Some already pressed businesses will compare the costs associated with the risk against the cost transferring their business and costs and opportunities at other locations. Of course, some will decide for transferrig. The inhabitants will make their decisions, 2, especially the poor folk who won’t be able to afford the premiums and ace the risk of losing all their belongings every few years.
I respectfully protest your conclusion that the nation’s too hard pressed to support the desaster recovery. It could be accomplished by a simple shift of assets currently dedicated to much less urgent tasks, like building monster bridges in Alaska for populations of a few hundred, who even bemoan the consequences of the pork project on their community.
As for the readers who don’t want to support the hurricane victims if they chose to stay in NO, Biloxi, Gulfport etc: Isn’t it contradictory to complain about high gas prices and at the same time deny help to the states where the ‘missing’ oil and fuel came from, so they can get their act together again asap?
September 1st, 2005 at 12:02 pm
Gray, is that the same funds that built the new levee that failed?? Flood prevention is not the same as flood elimination.
Catherine, in the past 100 years, how many times has there been a need for federal disaster money for Phoenix, Las Vegas, LA, San Fran to rebuild? NO is hit/brushed by a hurricane every 4 years (on average) and can expect a direct hit every 13 years. What natural disaster is expected as often as that for any other US city?? FYI: http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/neworleans.htm
The $26 billion estimate is for the “insured” claims. The government is estimating over $100 billion for uninsured and infrastructure expenses.
Earthquakes, while devestating, doesn’t do the mass range of damage that a hurricane does. After getting a few miles away from the epicenter of a quake, the worst that can happen is your stuff can shake off the walls. So for an LA earthquake to have the financial impact that Katrina has had on NO, it would have to occur right under the city’s center (on average of every 13 years!).
September 1st, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Michoud = builds tank that loses foam and dooms shuttles for NASA.
September 1st, 2005 at 12:45 pm
Concerned, ack, the shuttle tank really isn’t a product to be proud of. But it’s not their sole line of services.
As for flood prevention , I read several accounts that the levee was bound to be reinforced, but work couldn’t be done because of an unprecedent slashing of the engineer corps budget. I’ll post a link as fast as I can google that. Maybe there’