Posted on 09/01/2005 2:22:16 PM PDT by zencat
It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans.
"It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," the Illinois Republican said in an interview Wednesday with The Daily Herald of Arlington, Ill.
(Excerpt) Read more at wwltv.com ...
Those are all good questions. And, if people want to spend THEIR OWN money building in risky places, God bless 'em. But when they want to spend MY money doing it, that's a different story.
You mean the 'remake,' I hope... :-)
According to a report I heard, the French Quarter sits on some of the highest ground in the area. Looks like the French of old did show signs of intelligence building there, wonder what's happened since?
Well, don't tell the Dutch. They have some kind of super whammy dyke system, but they certainly do live below sea level.
right build NO better and practical. maybe smaller, high and with levee redund. Also, bring in japanese construction methods(they love concrete, lol)
Sounds like a good plan to me. Are you an engineer or just a reader of maps?
What a load of horse pucky. NO has a lot of corruption but that doesn't mean we bull doze cities or decide not to rebuild. Good grief, I can't believe all this hand wringing.
I'd like to hear exactly how the rebuilding would be financed. I understand only about 40% of the residents had flood insurance. My understanding is all flood insurance is underwritten by the federal government. I have it. I live about 10 feet from a a pretty good size creek.
Does the flood insurance program go broke? It seems that if people are paying into it throughout the entire country and it is not operated at a loss then it doesn't make much difference if the insured rebuild there or somewhere else.
I don't think I'd want to replace all my personal possessions more than one or twice in a lifetime though. I'm sure FEMA will be handing out checks to people. I don't know exactly how that is handled either. Anybody know?
Too logical and sensible..plus, it wouldn't cost enough.
Truth hurts!
At one time South Chicago was the meat packet to the US, among other things. What function does it serve now, other than to gobble AFDC, SSI, and other tax dollars?
Common sense hasn't won out yet in places like California or Venice, Italy. No, man will probably make the same mistakes as have been made in the past.
102 cubic yards/150 tons
Put Washington DC on that list.
"So do we then say ANY concentration of people is too much of a risk and limit city size?"
People ought not to live in Seattle or anywhere in the Northwest (Mt. Rainier set to blow any time) or in California (earthquakes) or anywhere on the Gulf Coast or in Florida or the mid Atlantic coast (hurricanes). Much of Texas, the Midwest and inland Southern states are out (tornadoes). Blizzards, flooding, drought, etc., etc., in much of rest of country. I remember when there were those big floods in the Midwest a number of years ago we were told not to live near the rivers. Oh, btw, Houston has a lot of the same exposures as NO. Houston too is sinking (for different causes). So where should we live?
Even the ultra-strict constructionist Calhoun felt the FedGov ought to do some internal improvements in the vicinity of NO and the Mississippi Valley. Nobody with a leg to stand on is more ultra that Calhoun was.
If L.A. were 90% destroyed by an earthquake, I wouldn't want to pay to rebuild that either.
I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Seriously, I was going to be a geologist but ended up going into systems. But I've kept studying these subjects. Sooner or later, the Atchafalaya is going to take over the flow of the Mississippi. We can both rebuild the city elsewhere to the west and prepare for that channel shift and compensate for subsidence with one plan. It was only a matter of time which sword was going to hit first. But raising levees and rebuilding the city in place leaves all three swords hanging.
bingo. I went to U of C. you wouldnt believe the waste, including sba loans.
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