Posted on 02/02/2006 10:08:40 AM PST by ncountylee
In the chaos that followed the worst natural disaster in American history, a forensic investigation has been taking place to find out what went wrong and why.
The BBC's Horizon programme has spoken to the scientists who are now confronting the real possibility that New Orleans may be the first of many cities worldwide to face extinction.
Modern day New Orleans was a city that defied the odds. Built on a mosquito infested swamp squashed between two vast bodies of water in what is essentially a bowl, its very existence seemed proof of the triumph of engineering over nature.
But on the 29 August 2005 New Orleans took a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina and overnight was turned into a Venice from hell.
The delicate flood system in New Orleans, that so many relied on to protect them was actually, year on year, adding to the risk of a catastrophe in the city.
Coastal Geologist Shea Penland from the University of New Orleans knows every inlet, every cove and every stretch of marsh that surrounds New Orleans.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Ahh...if these places did not flood, then more power to them. I am not without experience in LA, my Mother grew up in South Louisana, and I spent many happy hour in NO. I can understand that losing parts of it, not just the FQ is painful.
It's just time to face facts, cut the losses and move on. NO will never be the same, you cannot change that fact. It's time for common sense to take over this thing and see the future. The future is that what is prone to flood will flood at some point. If you build dams, dikes, canal walls, channel walls, etc. to keep the water out, sooner or later it gets in, water will seek it's own level.
Let what should be swamps and wetlands revert to that.
I doubt New Orleans will EVER be extinct. It has too much charm in the eyes of the people who want to be there. It will be a much different city after all this, but that could be a real improvement! What gets built back will, I hope, not be large scale government housing projects that did nothing but encourage criminals to take advantage of the poorest citizens and robbed people of any hope at all. I'm guessing that those who escaped from those hell-holes are likely to NEVER return. I'm sure they've found much nicer places to live with better schools for their kids, more opportunities for improving their lives, and are thankful they're out of New Orleans.
No. It's not entirely useless. In a few million years those sediments will be excellent sources of hydrocarbons.
There's a town near here called Shoals. It was severely flooded last year. I didn't hear a single person asking for money to rebuild on the floodplain.
In Missouri after the huge Mississippi floods there was a town that was wiped out. They moved to higher ground and rebuilt. No one asked for money to rebuild on the flood plain.
Bitsy, It's not that we have no compassion, it's just that it is so incredibly stupid to rebuilb NOLA where it is. The coastal lands that once protected it are gone, the city continues to sink lower every year, there is nothing beyond the french quarter (and possibly not even that) that cannot be moved or rebuilt elsewhere. NOLA is dead. If this hurricane didn't finish the job the next one will.
Truth has no compassion, it just is.
I realize Nola will never be the same. In some ways that is good and some ways bad. But we have been living with hurricanes down here for a while. Again the problem is this. Because of oil exploration, the increase of trade, the importance of the Miss river, over the past 50 years, certain decisons were made that were unwize enviromentally. This actions were determined also on a national level. What louisiana wants is this. The recognition of our contribution to the economies health and our national security over the past decades. While other states have laws not to drill Louisiana allowed it. THis provides benifits for all. We are just starting to feel how should I put it , that we feelwe are some kind of woman that once the guy got his fun just left us like some common hooker.
Understood. My best wishes for you and yours.
Regards,
AR
No, New Orleans won't ever be the same again. And you can't put your hand in the same river twice.
What's your point about Berlin and Dresden? Those cities WERE rebuilt.
New Orleans is not just the French Quarter, and the French Quarter is not just for tourists.
It seems that the people most against helping New Orleans are those who know the least about it.
nola is not dead there are engineering solutions to the problem this can be reversed. I am sorry if many dont want to spend the money for it but we will fight for it. Because in 10 years we will be hearing the same thing about other towns when it could have been prevented
amen again it seems alot of people get their views of nola from their intense research of "girls gone wild " videos
NOtlantis
I don't know if it's as much ignorance as asinine indifference.
Wrong. Blanco won because of rural Louisiana racist voters.
I know a lot about NO. I had my first good wine at Broussards, my first oyster po' boy down the street. My uncle lived just across the river, my Mother was from there.
The point about Berlin and Dresden is that they are not now the same cities that they were, nor will they ever be. Those cities are gone and yes they have been rebuilt, but they are inland, NO is not. Surely you can see the problems that lead to this Charlie Foxtrot in the first place? What would for God's sake be the point in rebuilding what should have remained swamp and wetlands? Water will seek it's own level, and nothing you can build can ever defeat the power of nature unleashed. Common sense needs to trump the emotional response here, and quick.
true as to the indifference. I tell you I wish I could organize a freeper bus tour of southern louisiana from the Texas border to Mississippi so people can make an informed judgment about this portion of America they would like just to sink. I was talking to a Natioanl Guard friend that was with the Tiger Brigade of the Lousiana National Guard. It is truly beyond his belief that after his unit spent so much time building up a country to return and get the feeling no cares about his backyard. He said he felt he got more respect in Iraq
no thats incorrect. North louisiana voted for Blanco because she was the only State wide official to visit these towns up in the Northern part of the State. Once a poltico shakes a few hands nad is involved in local matters and tells people your part of the state and we appreciate you its remembered. I was involved in Jindals campaign and that was the problem in the Northern part of the State. Not race.
The point being is this. NO one is saying rebuild NOLA like it was. We realize tough calls have to be made. But the situation is not as dire as people think. Again there are solutions
New Orleans took a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina
----Nope. That is a lie. No need to read anymore.
I don't remember where, but I read that a poll of the ones who had to be relocated reveals that 85% of them do not plan on returning to New Orleans. It would be interesting to see a poll like that broken down by city and by those living in paid-for, temporary motel rooms.
My son was talking to a AA female at the grocery store here in North Central Arkansas. She got a job almost as soon as she got here and plans to stay. She said she loves it here.
I'd like to see those stats, too - how many of those relocated got jobs like she did. With jobs, a person wouldn't be as inclined to return to the unknown.
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