The 1953 Netherlands storm killed about 2000 people. Surge was around 4 meters. They have a hydraulic problem, similar to what the 1935 Labor Day hurricane did to Tampa bay in Florida.
NO is inland and the winds at NO, if you recall, were down considerably from the initial hit on the tip of the Mississippi delta. From what I saw winds at NO were in the 100+ mph range.
What I was suggesting was we study the way the Netherlands are trying to deal with their flood and surge problem, make adjustments and proceed.
Biloxi on the open gulf actually got the Katrina surge, around 29 feet and 145 mph winds. They don't need dikes, they need stout construction. There is building techniques which can resist 155 mph winds, and elevating the building will protect against surge. Similar to how the casino hotels survived. If you noticed, in the TV pictures there was a condo with the break out walls next to the Hard Rock that did pretty good.
While we may not be able to build strong enough to survive everything, we can do much better than the wood buildings on flat ground that got flattened and destroyed in NO and Biloxi.
Agreed. But then again hindsight is 20/20 and that ship sailed a long time ago. What politician would have gotten away with saying. "There is a storm that could hit today, maybe in a hundred years, but we need to destroy your houses and move you out in case that happens." Yeah, right. Sounds like a winning plan to me...NOT!