Posted on 09/01/2005 2:24:21 PM PDT by Gondring
[..]America pays people to think thoughts that defy imagination, though it then often ignores their recommendations. In early 2001, experts with [FEMA] set out to rank the likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing America. According to the Houston Chronicle, they were a terrorist attack in New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a major hurricane in New Orleans.
In this case, two out of three is bad.
[..]"...A major earthquake or Category 5 hurricane in an urban area would stretch our current response and recovery capabilities to the breaking point."
The date of this conference: Sept. 10, 2001.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington the following day, [...a] national emergency plan was devised to manage recovery from catastrophic disasters. [..]
No disaster plan could mitigate what has happened in New Orleans - an entire city under water - its citizens with no homes or jobs to return to, facing months without electricity and years of rebuilding. [..]
But thinkers of the unthinkable have thought for years that New Orleans' levee system was inadequate. In 2001, the Corps of Engineers New Orleans District spent $147 million on various construction and repair projects. This year, the Corps spent $82 million in the district, 44 percent less than four years ago.
Also underfunded at $40 million a year: The $14 billion Coast 2050 project that aims to restore the wetlands of the Mississippi Delta. The marshes and swamps buffer New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico. With the levees forcing Mississippi River sediment into the Gulf instead of spreading it across the marshes, the Delta is disappearing at the rate of one football field every 15 minutes.
Without its buffer, the next time a hurricane hits, rebuilt New Orleans could become Atlantis. And there will be a next time. Plan on it.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
One of the major problems with N.O. is that it is sinking deeper and deeper into the silt it was built a top. Levees are not the full solution to this - relocation is pretty important, it seems to me.
"Upon the whole, this has been an uncommon year; the early melting of snow to the north raised the Mississippi to an unusual height. The continued rains in the summer and the subsequent hot weather, and consequent sickness amongst the inhabitants, rendered that period somewhat distressing. Autumn, to this time, has been unusually mild..."
LOUISIANA GAZETTE (ST. LOUIS) -- Vol IV
Link:
http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/SEISMICITY/Nuttli.1973/nuttli-73-app.html
No offense, my FRiend, but as much as I hate the NEA, you should check your reading abilities before throwing stones. It's "underfunded at $40 million a year" not "underfunded by $40 million a year"...in other words, only 1% of the funding that would have been required (costs are far higher now, though, because of the underfunding in the past). (Note, though, that the actual original ANNUAL estimate was $470 million, for 30 years....therefore, it received 3% of the required budget to protect the area.)
My problem is not with the numbers or requirements. It's with the Federal Government being asked to fund this.
We have a winna!!
Iben Browning predicted a earthquake of magnitude 7 would strike the area of the New Madrid Fault Zone on December 3, 1990. It was all the rage here in Southern Illinois. And you are right about the school situation. Tons of kids were kept out of school that day (with no penalty for missing), people stocked up on water and canned foods. Kind of a "test run" for the Y2K madness a few years later.
My bad. Hey I am living proof of Government school failure. I apparently can't read.
Looks like they took pieces of Sid the Snakes editorial overseas.
Can't even think for themselves.
The full editorial mentions New Madrid...that's why I included the Missouri :-)
It did indeed make the Mississippi flow backward for a brief time. Additionally, the quake caused the spontaneous formation of Reelfoot Lake in TN.
If you are ever at the Natural History Museum in DC, they have this seismic sensor that lights up everytime there is seismic activity somewhere. I couldnt beleive how many daily tremors occur here in MO. They are small to be sure, butthe potential for a big one here exists. In fact we have earthquake coverage as part of our homeowners insurance..
When the New Madrid fault goes, it goes. Predicting it or worrying about it are both futile; ask Iben Browning, eh?
:^)
The best way not to be subject to either an attack, or a natural disaster, is not be there.
The Professor was Iben Browning. He did it partialy as a stunt to highlight the venerability of the area.
Don't know how much is in place, but the state of Iowa has a few plans at the DOT for the "big one". Basically they put up a lot of signs for a better way around the interstate systems, because they figured every over pass would be out.
If New Madrid hits, we will have a situation like what we are seeing on the Gulf all over the Midwest. Difference is you can walk out of most Midwestern cities.
The sheer INCOMPETENCE that has been displayed for the past three days has me wondering WTF have all of these cities been spending their Homeland Security money on??? This whole situation demonstrates that after 4 years of preparation for a terrorist attack, we would be rendered helpless. At least in NYC, not many homes were affected. I am witnessing third world refugee situations. Why on earth can't they get food and water delivered to the evacuation points that they told people to go to (ie. the convention center). And we have heard little to nothing from the people south of NOLA.
it did reverse the flow of the mississippi and created realfoot lake in tenn.
This is evidence of the incompetence of the mayor and governor. Nobody seems to be in charge. The FEMA director can't do everything. Heaven help us if we have multiple terrorist attacks on major cities.
Bush is going to get blamed for this. Dumb people refused to evacuate when they were warned to do so. Others who were unable to evacuate weren't bused out or helped in any way. It is pathetic.
Dense?!?! It's almost four years to the day since 9/11!! What the hell has FEMA or the govt. been doing since then?!?! If a suitcase nuke goes off in a major metropolitan area, it's going to be a lot like this.
The country needs rapid response for disasters like this. It looks like no one mobilized until after the disaster, in spite of the fact that everyone KNEW this hurricane was coming. From local to Federal, they all dropped the ball. Watch this space, because it will happen again the next time. This is not a partisan issue.
Dense? Look in the mirror, you Howlin Jackass!!
I'm convinced that Homeland Security and FEMA are a sham. Stock up and ammo and water, because the govt. doesn't give a rat's ass about you.
It will be worse. There will be fallout extending away from the target city. People in the path of this fallout will have to be quickly evacuated. It is plainly clear that we have no quick mass evacuation system in place.
Unfortunately no one will want refugees from New Orleans - permanently. Where will they go? They'll be like the Palestinians and former executives of Enron.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.