Posted on 03/06/2006 4:35:55 PM PST by Saints fan
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert wondered aloud whether the Federal Government should help rebuild a city much of which lies below sea level. The most tough-minded answer to that question demonstrates that rebuilding and protecting New Orleans is in the national interest. Reason: The very same geological forces that created that port are what make it vulnerable to Category 5 hurricanes and also what make it indispensable.
One such force is the Mississippi River. Once, the Gulf of Mexico extended north to Cape Girardeau, Mo., but the river gradually deposited enough sediment into a receding sea to create tens of thousands of square miles of land stretching south to the present mouth of the river. Long after New Orleans was first settled, the entire region remained above sea level and safe from hurricanes. Engineers prevented river floods by building levees and kept shipping channels open by constructing jetties two miles out into the ocean so that the river dropped its sediment into deep water. Before the jetties were built, 100 ships at a time often waited days for deep enough water to pass over sandbars blocking the Mississippi's mouth. The levees and jetties stopped sediment from feeding the deltas; the land sank, and coastal Louisiana shrank. Similarly, other great ports on deltaic rivers, like Rotterdam, are also below sea level; the airport serving Amsterdam is 20 ft. below sea level, lower than any part of New Orleans.
If engineering the Mississippi made New Orleans vulnerable, it also created enormous value. New Orleans is the busiest port in the U.S.; 20% of all U.S. exports, and 60% of our grain exports, pass through it. Offshore Louisiana oil and gas wells supply 20% of domestic oil production. But to service that industry, canals and pipelines were dug through the land, greatly accelerating the washing away of coastal Louisiana. The state's land loss now totals 1,900 sq. mi. That land once protected the entire region from hurricanes by acting as a sponge to soak up storm surges. If nothing is done, in the foreseeable future an additional 700 sq. mi. will disappear, putting at risk port facilities and all the energy-producing infrastructure in the Gulf.
There is no debate about the reality of that land loss and its impact. On that the energy industry and environmentalists agree. There is also no doubt about the solution. Chip Groat, a former director of the U.S. Geological Survey, says, "This land loss can be managed, and New Orleans can be protected, even with projected sea-level rise." Category 5 hurricane protection for the region, including coastal restoration, storm-surge barriers and improved levees, would cost about $40 billion--over 30 years. Compare that with the cost to the economy of less international competitiveness (the result of increased freight charges stemming from loss of the efficiencies of the port of New Orleans), higher energy prices and more vulnerable energy supplies. Compare that with the cost of rebuilding the energy and port infrastructure elsewhere. Compare that with the fact that in the past two years, we have spent more to rebuild Iraq's wetlands than Louisiana's. National interest requires this restoration. Our energy needs alone require it. Yet the White House proposes spending only $100 million for coastal restoration.
Washington also has a moral burden. It was the Federal Government's responsibility to build levees that worked, and its failure to do so ultimately led to New Orleans' being flooded. The White House recognized that responsibility when it proposed an additional $4.2 billion for housing in New Orleans, but the first priority remains flood control. Without it, individuals will hesitate to rebuild, and lenders will decline to invest.
How should flood control be paid for? States get 50% of the tax revenues paid to the Federal Government from oil and gas produced on federally owned land. States justify that by arguing that the energy production puts strains on their infrastructure and environment. Louisiana gets no share of the tax revenue from the oil and gas production on the outer continental shelf. Yet that production puts an infinitely greater burden on it than energy production from other federal territory puts on any other state. If we treat Louisiana the same as other states and give it the same share of tax revenue that other states receive, it will need no other help from the government to protect itself. Every day's delay makes it harder to rebuild the city. It is time to act. It is well past time.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert wondered aloud whether the Federal Government should help rebuild a city much of which lies below sea level. The most tough-minded answer to that question demonstrates that rebuilding and protecting New Orleans is in the national interest. Reason: The very same geological forces that created that port are what make it vulnerable to Category 5 hurricanes and also what make it indispensable.
One such force is the Mississippi River. Once, the Gulf of Mexico extended north to Cape Girardeau, Mo., but the river gradually deposited enough sediment into a receding sea to create tens of thousands of square miles of land stretching south to the present mouth of the river. Long after New Orleans was first settled, the entire region remained above sea level and safe from hurricanes. Engineers prevented river floods by building levees and kept shipping channels open by constructing jetties two miles out into the ocean so that the river dropped its sediment into deep water. Before the jetties were built, 100 ships at a time often waited days for deep enough water to pass over sandbars blocking the Mississippi's mouth. The levees and jetties stopped sediment from feeding the deltas; the land sank, and coastal Louisiana shrank. Similarly, other great ports on deltaic rivers, like Rotterdam, are also below sea level; the airport serving Amsterdam is 20 ft. below sea level, lower than any part of New Orleans.
If engineering the Mississippi made New Orleans vulnerable, it also created enormous value. New Orleans is the busiest port in the U.S.; 20% of all U.S. exports, and 60% of our grain exports, pass through it. Offshore Louisiana oil and gas wells supply 20% of domestic oil production. But to service that industry, canals and pipelines were dug through the land, greatly accelerating the washing away of coastal Louisiana. The state's land loss now totals 1,900 sq. mi. That land once protected the entire region from hurricanes by acting as a sponge to soak up storm surges. If nothing is done, in the foreseeable future an additional 700 sq. mi. will disappear, putting at risk port facilities and all the energy-producing infrastructure in the Gulf.
There is no debate about the reality of that land loss and its impact. On that the energy industry and environmentalists agree. There is also no doubt about the solution. Chip Groat, a former director of the U.S. Geological Survey, says, "This land loss can be managed, and New Orleans can be protected, even with projected sea-level rise." Category 5 hurricane protection for the region, including coastal restoration, storm-surge barriers and improved levees, would cost about $40 billion--over 30 years. Compare that with the cost to the economy of less international competitiveness (the result of increased freight charges stemming from loss of the efficiencies of the port of New Orleans), higher energy prices and more vulnerable energy supplies. Compare that with the cost of rebuilding the energy and port infrastructure elsewhere. Compare that with the fact that in the past two years, we have spent more to rebuild Iraq's wetlands than Louisiana's. National interest requires this restoration. Our energy needs alone require it. Yet the White House proposes spending only $100 million for coastal restoration.
Washington also has a moral burden. It was the Federal Government's responsibility to build levees that worked, and its failure to do so ultimately led to New Orleans' being flooded. The White House recognized that responsibility when it proposed an additional $4.2 billion for housing in New Orleans, but the first priority remains flood control. Without it, individuals will hesitate to rebuild, and lenders will decline to invest.
How should flood control be paid for? States get 50% of the tax revenues paid to the Federal Government from oil and gas produced on federally owned land. States justify that by arguing that the energy production puts strains on their infrastructure and environment. Louisiana gets no share of the tax revenue from the oil and gas production on the outer continental shelf. Yet that production puts an infinitely greater burden on it than energy production from other federal territory puts on any other state. If we treat Louisiana the same as other states and give it the same share of tax revenue that other states receive, it will need no other help from the government to protect itself. Every day's delay makes it harder to rebuild the city. It is time to act. It is well past time.
The restoration of New Orleans is a costly mis-adventure in tax money wrongly spent. Even if the next hurricane season spares this chocolate fiasco, sooner or later it will all happen again you know it and so do I. It is time to face the fact that this place has run out of luck and the taxpayers should not be obligated to throw good money after bad. The present location is not worth the massive expenditure involved and should be moved far north of its present location where it can be stabilized. If the local millionaires want it rebuilt let them pony up the bucks not the national taxpayers once again.
Nope, the feds built the levee walls in the late 80's, early 90's.They were incredibally misengineered and built by the Army Corps of Engineers.If they were built right , New Orleans would not have flooded.
If you want to rebuild N.O you are certainly more than welcome to that. The taxpayers in the rest of the country should not have to rebuild that corrupt craphole. Yes, I have been to N.O and 90% of that city was/is a craphole so there is no great loss
It was supposed to withstand cat 3. When Katrina hit NO it was less than cat 3. The levees should have held, if they were built right.The feds built them and were supposed to oversee maintenance. They didn't and they failed.
The city itself is not needed to move freight.
You have been to every part of the city? I doubt it.
I don't think you can get away with that assertion. We've all learned about how much money the Feds sent to LA for the levees, and how all of the levee boards used it.
LA couldn't even manage to turn control over the levees to the state, let alone the Feds.
The failure of the levees was LA's problem. And the failure to evacuate NO was a problem shared by the gov. and the mayor.
Obviously that wasn't enough supervision given the depth of corruption in that part of the country.
BTW, the levees held. They are still there. The canal walls didn't.
Katrina was not a Cat 2 when it hit NO.
The Corps was responsible for the engineering design and construction of the levees,not the financing.
I understand that the money that the Feds have sent to NO over the years to shore-up the levies had been diverted by the local politicians into sports stadiums and other projects....spending tax payer money to rebuild a city under sea-level makes absolutley no sense.
NO was on the western side of the storm. The winds on the western side was less than a cat 3.
Poor planning and not knowing how to get the hell out of Dodge played a major role in NO's current woes. The Florida Keys are much more vulnerable than NO, with one way in, and one way out...the residents are familiar with both and have sense enough to heed the warnings and get out.
The civil affairs projects the Corps gets involved in are, for the most part, drawn up by outsiders working under contract. The work is ordinarily performed by winning bidders.
Their job is to "supervise". That's why they have experts in so many fields.
When it comes to military projects, you might actually see the Corps "do something".
Yeah....it's the federal governemnts fault. No, it was your worthless democRAT political machines fault. 200 billion dollars...to democRATS ? Not on your life.
Sorry for your troubles, but the Federal government did not destroy New Orleans. There's a lot more justification for that statement than the above referenced information. For example, the fact that it was a natural disaster.
Weather people 'got out of Dodge' as you say had nothing to do with the city's current woes. 90% of the residents got out.Only the dumbest of dumb stayed. The city's current woes are because the levee walls failed.
And your point is what? That the canal walls failed at below their design intent? Of all I have read about Katrina, not once have I seen that it was less than a Cat 3 when it hit NO. If the canal walls failed at less than design, then it was a disaster just waiting to happen.
Another fine example of Louisiana construction.
Look, I'm not trying to bash you or your city. But I cannot tolerate the bitching and moaning of people who have chosen to live life shaking hands with disaster everyday for decades, then when that disaster comes, they expect everyone else to fix the problem.
History is full of towns and cities that didn't recover after natural disasters. NO will survive, but it will have to be different, or suffer the same fate at some point in the future.
Anything made by man will eventually fail, if not maintained over time.If anyone cared down there, maybe more care would have been taken, and built weaknesses could have been found before failure.
Hope the higher view is better where they rebuild.
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