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> Ive seen more intelligent questions.

I think it is a very intelligent question to ask if New Orleans will survive. I could easily see a decision to rebuild the city down the road, above sea level... or to raise it, like they did with Galveston at the turn of the 20th century, post-hurricane.

I am reminded of that old 19th century classic study on mass behavior and the irrationality that it brings, named something like "Popular Delusions, and the Ordinary Madness of Crowds." In retrospect, it was easy to conclude not IF New Orleans would get annihilated, but WHEN. It is the height of hubris to think that technology can indefinitely stave off the time bomb that is represented by a below-sea-level city. The amount of potential energy represented by the elevation of Lake Ponchartrain, with respect to the New Orleans bowl, is a force that can't be ignored or talked away.

Sure, I have great sympathy for all those people, and I'm sure many just never gave it any thought in their lifetimes, but if I were confronted with the fact that I owned a house below sea level, or that someone was asking me to invest in a sports stadium, or to build a high rise, in a city below sea level, without mentioning the words "New Orleans", I would burst out laughing at the preposterousness of the idea.

Dealing in pure rationality, one would sell and get the heck out of Dodge and not look back. But again, I see how things evolved as they did, and once you've had multiple generations dodging the bullet, one begins to discount the possibility of disaster, almost reflexively.

And in the same way that many, Monday afternoon, said New Orleans dodged the bullet, while those wise in the ways of science and engineering said "let's wait and see," I now say let's wait and see about the possibility of whether or not the city will be rebuilt as it was. I believe that if it takes them a month to "drain the swamp," as it were, that most, if not all of those structures' foundations will have been potentially compromised.

The reality may take a while to sink in, but not only the residents who are contemplating rebuilding, but also the government, who doles out the disaster money, may decide that something fundamental needs to change.

New Orleans DID dodge a bullet. This devastation is VERY MUCH better than what I feared on Sunday. People were doubting the possibility that hundreds of thousands could have died. If waves would have pounded from Pontchartrain during the hurricane, everyone waiting for a rooftop rescue would have fallen into turbulent, debris-ridden water. Almost all would have died. The water would be 10 or even 20 feet deeper in the city and very turbulent, and few buildings could have survived. Most of the city (but not all) may be obliterated, but its people remain alive to be rescued. The storm did not annihilate them yet.

It looked yesterday as if widespread rescues would be necessary; it just looks a little worse today. Perhaps that tips the balance between saving and leaving the city. Probably at least the Mississippi levee region--at least those parts not underwater--survive and will thrive.

The people of New Orleans probably will be placed under crushing personal debts. Taxation certainly will not cease; renters must continue to pay until they can restore their premises to their former status or pay to make the repairs. Even if the city disappears, the taxes will remain eternally; as Democrats, the city government probably will raise taxes to resurrect whatever part of the city they can.

I'm guessing that most don't have the money, and banks won't make loans. Insurance won't pay for anything submerged. Many insurers may not pay anyway because of the volume of claims. Obviously, mortgages will come due, and banks probably soon will demand immediate payment. The overwhelming majority this debt will go on credit cards, probably with sureties that the debtors will reject charity, pass the debt to their heirs, and remand all eligibility for bankruptcy. Interest rates will exceed 20%, probably mostly 200%+. As such, these people always will remain extremely poor and homeless and may spend generations in debt peonage.

And the people probably are committing all sorts of code violations (e.g., noxious odors, unsanitary conditions, etc.) and breaking laws (especially looters). As such, most will face extensive fines and probably long terms on the chain gangs who will rebuild the city at high risk to life and health.