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Water May Linger for Months (New Orleans, "Gone With the Wind?"
The Los Angeles Times ^ | September 1, 2005 | Ralph Vartabedian

Posted on 09/01/2005 6:37:10 PM PDT by kellynla

Draining the billions of gallons of water that have inundated New Orleans could take three to six months, substantially longer than some experts have expected, the Army Corps of Engineers said late Wednesday.

Col. Richard Wagenaar, the corps' senior official in New Orleans, said that the estimate was based on planning done as Hurricane Katrina approached and that it remained the corps' best estimate. He is directing the agency's recovery efforts.

The estimate depends on favorable weather. Additional rain or other problems could cause more delays, Wagenaar warned.

"There is a lot of water here," he said. "The news cameras do not do it justice. And I'm worried the worst is yet to come."

Public officials, meanwhile, were furious over the corps' delays. Mayor C. Ray Nagin blistered officials on television for what he called their inaction. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco scowled in irritation, saying, "I'm extremely upset about it."

Walter Baumy, a chief engineer, said that the corps was confronted by riverbeds clogged with loose barges and debris and that it could not find contractors able to maneuver heavy equipment into the flood zone. Blanco acknowledged that officials were also struggling with faulty communication. After a disheartening aerial tour of the flooded city, Blanco said she was able to reach White House officials on a satellite phone but could not connect with Army and other officials in nearby Baton Rouge.

"Part of our problem is we're not getting information delivered quickly enough," she said.

Wagenaar said the evaluations Wednesday were sobering, leading him to believe that city officials' horrific death estimates given could be accurate.

The water is 30 feet deep or more in some parts of the city, covering homes. In the city's 9th Ward, homes have shifted and floated away

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: katrina; neworleans
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To: netmilsmom

Biloxi was hit just as hard, but in a different way. The water has receded there. New Orleans is flooded and it has a lot more poor people. Our Governor, Haley Barbour, is a super guy. He called for evacuation much earlier than Louisiana officials. He inspires much more confidence than Edith Bunker Blanco. I talked to a friend from Gulfport a few minutes ago. As he and his family were preparing to leave, a police officer came by to urge them to leave. According to my friend, the police and sheriff's deputies on the Gulf Coast were handing out toe tags to those who refused to leave.


21 posted on 09/01/2005 6:56:06 PM PDT by pollyg107
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To: TXBubba
"When NO was built it wasn't under sea level. It sunk over time.

How long would it take to rebuild New Orleans ABOVE sea level and with cat5 structures ?

22 posted on 09/01/2005 6:56:14 PM PDT by OldEagle (May you live long enough to hear the legends of your own adventures.)
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To: netmilsmom

they aren't trying to rescue people from the city flooding in the process.


23 posted on 09/01/2005 6:56:47 PM PDT by diverteach
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To: kellynla

Good bye and good riddance. The city most well known for immorality and corruption should be left under the flood waters.


24 posted on 09/01/2005 6:56:53 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
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To: kittymyrib

Again, the city was built when it was at or above sea level. So I wouldn't go so far as to say it shouldn't have been built there. But now that it is under sea level I don't think it should be rebuilt there.


25 posted on 09/01/2005 6:56:58 PM PDT by TXBubba ( Democrats: If they don't abort you then they will tax you to death.)
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To: Graybeard58

"How do you relocate a half mil people and their houses? Not to mention replacing every business, of which there are thousands."

They may have to.

It certainly would be cheaper and healthier to relocate the city on other side of the "Big Muddy" or the other side of the lake on higher ground than trying to refurbish a city that will be sitting on a cesspool inundated with raw sewage, chemicals & human remains unfit for man or beast.

And even if you were able to replace the entire levee system tomorrow, clean the entire city of raw sewage, chemicals and human waste what would stop some terrorists from flying planes into the walls after another storm and flooding the city again.


26 posted on 09/01/2005 6:57:13 PM PDT by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: kittymyrib
There will be very few people who will invest in a non-insurable property.

Even when they know the government will pick up the tab for any loss?

27 posted on 09/01/2005 6:57:36 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Sgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: Graybeard58

You let Mother Nature do it... as it already has.


28 posted on 09/01/2005 6:59:23 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: Nateman

My mother visited NO years ago after a flood had hit and took pictures of some of the mayhem. The flooding was minor by comparison; but, still caused caskets in the graveyards to push through the topsoil and go floating away. Was kinda creepy; but, I wonder how much of that is having to be dealt with.

As for the rebuilding of the city.. Liquifaction and other factors may forestall that happenstance. And by the time they manage to get that volume of water evacuated, I doubt very much that the homes and buildings there will be much worth salvaging. A little water can do a lot of damage. And there is far more than a "little" of it there.


29 posted on 09/01/2005 6:59:53 PM PDT by Havoc (Reagan was right and so was McKinley. Down with free trade. Hang the traitors high)
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To: Graybeard58
How do you relocate half a mil people and their houses?

The houses are sitting in water, eventually the wood will rot and the houses/buildings will collapse. I say pave it over, put up a parking lot!

30 posted on 09/01/2005 6:59:57 PM PDT by rockabyebaby (I'm not afraid to say out loud what the rest of you are afraid to admit.)
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To: kellynla
Col. Richard Wagenaar, the corps' senior official in New Orleans, ... "There is a lot of water here," he said. "The news cameras do not do it justice. And I'm worried the worst is yet to come."

The worse is yet to come. From the senior official in charge with handling the flooding. I think we can officially assume now that they are worried about the ol Mississippi river levee's.

31 posted on 09/01/2005 7:00:31 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: OldEagle

Decades.


32 posted on 09/01/2005 7:00:33 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: kellynla

I couldn't agree more with Not rebuilding New Orleans in it's existing location. For anyone to respond with simply saying that the levy system need to be fixed and or made higher, I say that you could rebuild that entire levy system several feet higher, but it's still at the mercy of mother nature. There's no garuntee that during any other hurricane that large debris being pushed into the levy walls won't breach it again.

Now lets factor in the enviros claim of global warming and sea levels rising. Actually the real fact of what is causing global warming is not greenhouse gas emissions, it is the fact that the sun itself is getting hotter, melting icecaps, that are making sea levels rise. Hurricanes will also continue to increase in frequency and intensity as this is natures way of maintaining temperature balance across the globe.

Why rebuild an already vulnerable city that is sure to be even more and more vulnerable by not only more frequent deadly storms but also gradually becoming even farther below sea level?


33 posted on 09/01/2005 7:01:47 PM PDT by diverteach
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To: Graybeard58

Send them to Detroit?


34 posted on 09/01/2005 7:02:16 PM PDT by Oystir
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To: pollyg107
Edith Bunker Blanco

Perfect!

35 posted on 09/01/2005 7:03:04 PM PDT by rockabyebaby (I'm not afraid to say out loud what the rest of you are afraid to admit.)
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To: kellynla
I don't think New Orleans will be rebuilt.

The American people aren't going to pony up the cash to do so, especially after seeing the anarchy that is going on there and watching the ineptitude of the so-called "leaders" down there.

Even if they wanted to pay for it, where is the money going to come from? We're already running an annual budget deficit of $500 billion dollars.

Rebuilding New Orleans would be more difficult than building the Hoover Dam. It isn't going to happen.

36 posted on 09/01/2005 7:05:55 PM PDT by Mulder (“The spirit of resistance is so valuable, that I wish it to be always kept alive" Thomas Jefferson)
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Comment #37 Removed by Moderator

To: kellynla
The tragedy was the hurricane and the dike breeches. The disaster is what is happening to the people of NO. The former is a natural phenomena, the latter is criminal incompetence.
38 posted on 09/01/2005 7:06:09 PM PDT by crazyhorse691 ( Heaven on Earth is where the nearest Starbucks is 60 miles away.)
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To: Oystir
In Kwame's navigator

(great pic of the Corsair on your about page BTW)

39 posted on 09/01/2005 7:07:10 PM PDT by RckyRaCoCo ("When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk!")
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To: Blood of Tyrants

It would be a fitting end. Not quite so dramatic as Sodom and Gamorah; but definitely memorable.


40 posted on 09/01/2005 7:07:21 PM PDT by Havoc (Reagan was right and so was McKinley. Down with free trade. Hang the traitors high)
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