Posted on 08/31/2005 12:49:47 PM PDT by Brilliant
In 1718, French colonist Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville ignored his engineers' warnings about the hazards of flooding and mapped a settlement in a pinch of swampland between the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and a massive lake to the north.
Ever since, the water has sustained New Orleans and perpetually threatened it. Somehow, until this week, the mystique of the water had always washed away the foreboding of disaster, as if carrying the city's worries downstream. That was true even early Tuesday morning, when Hurricane Katrina's last-minute veer to the east convinced many residents they had once again eluded the Fates.
But when the rainfall brought by Katrina breached levees and overwhelmed the city's pumping stations, the catastrophic consequences of Bienville's miscalculation could no longer be ignored.
New Orleans, a city that has struggled to keep its head above water, physically and economically, is now a city submerged.
City officials estimated that 80% of the town was under standing water Tuesday, with some areas beneath as much as 20 feet. Water at times coursed through the French Quarter, one of the highest points in a city that is largely below sea level.
In broad swaths, the flooding submerged low-lying neighborhoods up to the rooftops and left one of America's most enchanting cities a sodden ruin.
For locals, it is a cruel paradox. The water that has given New Orleans its very life — its commerce, its cuisine, even the meandering flow of its daily pace — has now rendered their beloved city almost unrecognizable....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Figures, but Americans are to blame if they rebuild on the same assenine spot. Let's see, lemme build a city below sea level, right next to the ocean, between a lake and a river, on swampland, in Hurricane Alley, and lemme make sure the topography is that of a bowl. Yeah, that makes sense.
And how to get rid of billions of gallons of water? It won't just "recede", as it has nowhere to go.
God bless the Army corps of engineers. They have their work cut out for them.
I was going to propose that Bienville has lots of shrubbery, so therefore, it really is Bush's fault
Other cities in the past (seattle) have abandoned or built up low lying areas to at least sea level.
I'm sure the area involved is probably too massive to do this but the smart thing to do would be import enough fill to rais the whole place and not allow rebuilding below sea level.
The Streets would have to be built up, and first floors would become basements, and a lot of buildings would have to be renovated, but in the end it would pay for itself over time.
I have no illusions of this actually being done, as the area is probably too great, but it is the sensible thing to do. Either that or just move the city residential areas over time to higher ground.
Federal flood insurance was originally set up to do just this. Pay out on total losses and acquire the property so that it would not be built on again. (This is why you can not buy private flood insurance any more).
Simple.
- Plug the levees.
- Pump out the water.
The devil is in the details and how long it's gonna take.
FIRE IN THE FRENCH QUARTER AT THE CORNER OF BOURBON AND CANAL!!
Another doomsday situation.
I knew the french were involved! ;)
I wonder if it's still under warranty. Maybe we can get our money back.
Maybe instead of pumps we should just send in gondolas.
The engineers are already working on plans for the levees, but its going to be very hard. They are in areas not even accessible by road anymore.
Heard one army engineer this moring talking about how they will use 3000 pound bags mixed with gravel and sand to patch the big breaks in the leeves.
They are going to have to helicopter in everything. Very complicated.
And explain to me again why the taxpayers of the US will have to rebuild a city that was an ignorant, stubborn Frenchie's mistake....
You know, when you look at that Japanese airport built in the ocean, it's a disaster waiting to happen, too. Sooner or later, it is going to get hit by a tsunami, and bet totaled. You wonder about man's arrogance to constantly think he can outsmart nature.
What about the idiot Japanese, putting their major airport on sand in the middle of the ocean? You know that one's a disaster waiting to happen.
Wrong, he's a John Kerry ancestor!!
Sad to say, some imbecile has already posted a flyer at my local library saying that Hurricane Katrina is "karmic retribution" for the War on Terror and wondering why the hurricane couldn't have made a bullseye on Crawford, TX. Aside from the idiot's obvious ignorance about hurricanes, she (yes, she indicates it is a she writing this vile nonsense), there's the little matter of all the people living between the Gulf of Mexico and Crawford, TX that our local lunatic doesn't take into account....
Except the city wasn't below sea level when it was founded.
But, over time, two things have happened to change the topography:
1. Building the flood control levees and channelizing the Mississippi River has the effect of constantly raising the level of the river's bed, so that the river will tend to climb up the floodwalls a little higher each year.
2. Pumping water out of the soil has contributed to its steady subsidence, so that ground level sinks a little bit further each year.
Indeed.
This boondoggle is gonna make the Big Dig look like the height of frugality.
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