Support for Category 5 Storm Protection in New Orleans Ebbs in D.C. (Hillary still confused)

Newhouse News ^ | 11/11/05 | BILL WALSH, BRUCE ALPERT

[caryatid]

... so Congress will probably vote to give each homeowner $150k for their house and lot and call it square.

How about giving them the assessed value [usually a bit low] plus 10%? I do not know property values in the Lower 9th Ward ... but somethow doubt that most of the houses were valued at $150,000 or anything near that.

Yes, the rate of home ownership is reported to be near 60%.

[caryatid]

I have read that engineers suggested flood gates for the narrow opening to Lake Pontchartrain, to be closed during extremely high tides and storms...

It has been reported that this plan was rejected because it would make it impossible to pump water out of the city with the gates closed. Excessive amounts of rain will cause flooding ... as well as actual overflow of bodies of water.

[Ditter]

OK 10 ft 12 ft whatever, This should have been addressed long ago, like when it became apparent that part of the area was dropping below sea level. People could have been moved out gradually and the land reclaimed by raising it or made into wetlands.

There are parts of the east side of Houston (Baytown to be specific) that were overtaken by Galveston Bay. No levees were built to protect it, it was allowed to go into the bay and folks moved out. I don't know how much, or even if they were compensated. My Baytown relatives saw the handwriting on the wall and moved to Montana.

It has been a number of years since I have been to Baytown but the last time I was there you could still see a couple of roofs sticking up out of the water. Since NO decided to go the levee route, the water could have been channeled back to the Gulf instead of Lake Poncharatrain. The Lake could have had pumps installed, anyway, hindsight is wonderful but what to do now is not so clear.

[ViLaLuz]

"The parts that comprise the city center never flooded."

I disagree. New Orleans floods on a regular basis, in all parts. I know from personal experience.

[Ditter]

Houston floods on a regular basis too, not because it is under sea level but because it is flat. You get 5" to 10" of rain in a few hours (not uncommon) and you get flooding but in Houston it runs off in a couple of hours. In NO it has to be pumped out.

[Flavius Josephus]

I wonder what if they take it again next year? Maybe we ought to wait and see? After all:

"Global warming is real, it's very real..."

"The polar ice caps are melting they're meeelting."

"Why don't we try something different, something RADICAL!"

"We are destroying the planet's ability to heal itself."

[Flavius Josephus]

I believe the areas that flooded are indeed 12 feet below sea level.

[Mark was here]

"I broke the dam."

[Flavius Josephus]

In Houston they have made the thoroughfares and freeways to be emergency storm channels. Whenever we get that kind of flooding we loose cars by the tens of thousands it seems like. Hate to think of a really messy rainy hurricane. We'd be in a heap o' trouble.

[Ditter]

Do you live in Houston?

[RightWhale]

Fix Detroit, then advise other states.

[Mark was here]

Fix Detroit, then advise other states.

I'll tell you what, you can join with me in calling for the Federal Taxpayers to stop throwing money down the rat hole that is Detroit, and you can also join with me in calling for the Federal Taxpayers to not fund a stupid bridge to nowhere in Alaska.

Sounds to me like you are a little sensitive when it comes to cutting unnecessary spending.

Also Michigan pays more to the Federal Highway trust fund than it gets back, in other words, we are not on welfare, unlike others.

[RightWhale]

What do you think of the benefactor who will pay the Kalamazoo kids college tuition? Was that the Upjohns?

[Mark was here]

What do you think of the benefactor who will pay the Kalamazoo kids college tuition? Was that the Upjohns?

I saw a headline about it, but did not read it. Sounds like someone is trying to be helpful. Is there something evil going on?

[RightWhale]

Kalamazoo has a lot going for itself. Looks like the locals are trying to keep it going. Self-help. Industry would invest more in their local communities if they weren't taxed so much, but that would impact the redistribution of wealth program of the Feds.

[RobbyS]

Well, wherever they can. Understand I am thinking about paying them a bounty, one large enough to buy/build where, today, they cannot afford to build. It would be cheaper than building dikes strong enough to withstand the flooding.

[Flavius Josephus]

"I broke the dam."

You the one! HA HA! Make Your Time, You Have No Chance To Survive!

[Flavius Josephus]

Affirmativre.

[Ditter]

The streets were planned to function as drains, which they do rather quickly as soon as the rain stops. Unless it is a street that catches back up from the bayous, then they could be under water until the bayou goes down( stay off I10 between the loop and downtown for sure). If caught on a flooded street you can pull into someones driveway to wait. People are generally nice about it since they can't get in or out at that time either but that is why I drive a Tahoe. My truck is high enough to make it thru most flooded streets.

[Enchante]

I'm sure that the 'Rats will try to manipulate the election with at least a couple of hundred thousand absentee ballots, but I wouldn't assume that Nagin will be the beneficiary. He's a real albatross to the LA Demagogic Party if they hope to recover (politically) from this and a lot of evacuees blamed him rather strongly according to some survey I saw awhile back. There may have to be a new 'Rat politico to carry their standard in NOLA.........