Did Rebuilding New Orleans Make Sense?

reply to post by Blaine91555
Thanks for the kind words.

It's a hard thing when it's your house.

Like stated this was a problem a century in the making. It might can be repaired. It is a historic piece of th USA and I really hop that they come up with and idea. The pumps, whose feed pipes are big enough to drive a car through, are just about equally as old.

If it was New York City. They would do what ever it takes. What makes New Orleans any different?

If reckless spending in this country was not such an issue, we might could afford to save our cities, but they are deteriorated to the point of no return almost.

Sad days!

reply to post by Blaine91555

I don't envy those in the linked article that have to decide who gets flooded. They will not win, no matter what.

The plan was always to flood the West Bank and save the historic side. I know this is what will happen this time if it comes to it.

Watch out West Bank!

reply to post by Blaine91555


Perhaps what you should be more attentive to is the ridiculousness of the USDA subsidizing farming in the Atchafalaya River Basin where the Morganza Spillway opens. Basically the Federal Government paid people to live in an area that they really shouldn't have been put in the first place.

Stating that New Orleans is the problem in this situation is ridiculous. The Atchafalaya is the spot where the water is supposed to go. I cannot help that water diversion occurred.

New Orleans is not in danger. I'm 3 blocks from the Mississippi River levee, so... I don't have to worry about eating my words if I'm wrong.

Here you go. I just borrowed a pic that a friend took today.

That is a Supertanker!

The river is usually about 12-15 feet lower than that.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/baf9df45351d.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by niteboy82


Yeah I posted a Thread last night about how the river could change course. I had no idea that the river is kept on its path by a couple little dams and that it really wants to be taken over by the Achafalaya river and hit the gulf further west. Interesting stuff.

reply to post by niteboy82
Did they open The Bonnet Carre? I heard they were going to.

You think those old levees are used to these pressures? Liquefaction could occur at anytime. I hope you DONT eat your words.

P.S. I might just know you.

The Crystal!

Decatur!

my old haunts

reply to post by timewalker


haha I met marilyn manson and twiggy one night in the crystal like 13 years ago. He told me to leave him alone cause he was on acid. lol

reply to post by mayabong
One of my friends used to date Twiggy. They were always hangin with Trent and such. Rock N Roll. The Crystal was a great place.

I been in a few brawls in that place that spilled out into the street.

Ahhh the good ol days!

I'm sorry and no offense OP....but the more I think about it, it makes sense.

From an elite point of view.

You see, the premise to this thread can only lead us down one path.

And that path is a buffer, if you will. A soft sell, for a soft kill. What I'm trying to say is this type of thinking could make it easier for us to accept putting these people on FEMA trains. That's right, I said it.

I mean, why should we feel sorry for them? They chose to live in a flood prone area, right?



Edit to add:

Blaine91555, I will leave your thread now as I do not wish to bump it anymore. It makes me sick to tell the truth. You have to experience that city, it is special, and the people are special. I have been there many times and the worst trip I ever had was during Mardi Gras. You have to smell the smells, eat their food, talk to the locals, 7:30 am at Cafe Du Monde , live saxophone jazz 2 tables over, huge paddle boat sailing by. Hurricanes at Pat O'Briens, Voodoo shops... I could go on, but I'm not sure you'll get it.

Few places on this blue & green rock are "wise" places to live. The cold, callous disregard you have for human life and civilization upsets me. It's been a recent trend I've seen in people, especially in the US, when the subject of Katrina is brought up and the government's lack of response there. I've had to virtually 'disown' 1 or 2 friends because of this subject, and how disgusted I was with their comments. They also happen to be far-right leaning, self-righteous Christians and they continue to travel along that path, worsening in extremism it seems, which seems to be the demographic contributing to this trend the most.

Why doesn't everyone in Japan just move off their island? Surely it's stupid and ignorant to live on such a dangerous fault line with tsunami threats. Same goes for California. All those intelligent, wise people, who live like lizards in the sun, their 'big day' has yet to occur, but it will.

There is no wise place to live in this world. None. Everything has a massive trade-off for risk and comfort. You can live in the desert, where water is a serious problem. You can live in a temperate climate, where the cold is such a problem that ice and snow storms can knock out infrastructure for days, or weeks, and growing cycles for food are shortened. Not many places are self-sustaining and safe on this planet. Entire nations can be and have been virtually wiped out by tsunamis and earthquakes.

I just hate how some people can feel so high and mighty. They live in some isolated area or average place and feel they're smart because natural disasters don't occur with high-frequency there. Then they find out that natural gas, or various elements of the Earth have been leeching into their water supplies for centuries, killing them and deforming them slowly, but surely.

You can't run from the Earth.

It seems that no one knows about the flood mitigation plan going on around the New Orleans area. It's a plan by FEMA that allows rebuiding of a home but the home is raised/elevated above a certain flood elevation, usually 12 feet or higher, so that the main levels of a home are safe from repeated flooding.

www.fema.gov...

Instead of relocating residents (believe me, that has been discussed intently by local and federal officials because of the repeated flooding), the cheaper alternative is to elevate the structures so that they won't suffer catastrophic loss once again. Briefly, a flooded home is gutted, and then the ground level floor becomes an empty shell and can be used as a garage or storage. A second level is added to the home by removing the roof and adding walls and a roof to the existing first level frame, forming a second floor, the livable level.

The costs involved are mostly payed by FEMA if the home has been covered by flood insurance, I believe FEMA covers about 75% of the cost and the homeowner pays the additional 25%. In return, the homeowner can not make another flood claim ever again. This program is only good for homes that have flooded twice or more (I think), and the home must be in a flood zone, which usually means they are prone to flooding under the right conditions. So much of southern Louisiana is surrounded by water, lakes, bayous, rivers, etc. that many homes are in flood zones.

The cost is cheaper than completely gutting an entire city and moving the residents to another location.But,there is more at stake than logic. The residents that live here have been here for generations, the culture and traditions are unique, and it's still a fundemental right in this country to choose to live where you want to. This may not be the perfect solution to the problems of living in New Orleans, but, it's a viable solution and one that is working.

Part of a FEMA statement about this program:
Mitigation's Value to Society
Mitigation is valuable to society in these ways:

It creates safer communities by reducing loss of life and property damage. For example, the rigorous building standards adopted by 20,000 communities across the country are saving the nation more than $1.1 billion a year in prevented flood damages.
It allows individuals to minimize post-flood disaster disruptions and recover more rapidly. For example, homes built to NFIP standards incur less damage from floods. And when floods do cause damages, flood insurance protects the homeowner’s investment, as it did for the more than 200,000 Gulf Coast residents who received more than $23 billion in payments following the 2005 hurricanes.
It lessens the financial impact on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. For example, a recent study by the Multi-hazard Mitigation Council shows that each dollar spent on mitigation saves society an average of four dollars.

Any yes, I am a former resident, I left after Katrina because I was tired of going through the flooding problems. Guess what, I am dealing with them here in Memphis, not to mention now I have to deal with tornados and earthquakes. I was better off in New Orleans. There is no where in this country to live without experiencing some type of weather related destruction.

reply to post by Signals


Thank you for seeing what is so special about New Orleans. People that don't know anything about it don't get it. Even though I don't live there anymore, I will defend New Orleans until I can't breathe.

They rebuild for the same reason people in California rebuild after earthquakes, mudslides, and wildfires.
For the same reason Hurricane victims in florida rebuild, and Tornado victims across the country, flood victims in Tennessee, and all over, and why people live in the shawdow of volcanoes.

Because it's home.

Anytime you build anything, you do so with the knowledge that someday it will be destroyed.

Build anyway.

reply to post by justsaying


New Orleans is one of the most awesome cities out there. I've been to most big cities around the country and New Orleans has a distinct culture and soul to it. Maybe cause New Orleans has the french Quarter, a central place where people can gather. Not many other cities have that.