Posted on 09/18/2014 11:58:52 AM PDT by blam
The boot-shaped state isn’t shaped like a boot anymore. That’s why we revised its iconic outline to reflect the truth about a sinking, disappearing place.
By Brett Anderson
September 8, 2014
Photographs by William Widmer
Illustrations by Matthew Woodson
Early this year, I drove from Arnaudville, Louisiana, to Morgan City, hoping to walk where I’d heard there was land.
Arnaudville is in Cajun country, in the southern part of the state. Morgan City is roughly halfway between Lafayette and New Orleans, if you take the Highway 90 route. Directionally speaking, that’s all I knew.
I was aware Arnaudville is just outside Lafayette, but I couldn’t have told you in what direction, even though I’d been there several times before. Compulsive use of my smart phone’s map apps has eroded whatever navigational confidence — and, by extension, awareness — I ever possessed of areas outside New Orleans, where I’ve lived for over a dozen years. And this part of Cajun country can be disorienting. Boats traverse rice fields flooded in winter for crawfish production, and the slow-running bayous look innocuous until you get trapped on the wrong side of one. In Arnaudville, I met a tourist from Arkansas who, upon entering the tasting room at Bayou Teche Brewing, announced, “We tried to Google this place and ended up in a muddy swamp by the levee over there.”
I was gearing up to feel a variation on that pain myself as I made my way from Arnaudville to Morgan City. It was the first in a planned season of road trips during which I’d compare the facts on the ground in coastal Louisiana with the facts as presented by the official state maps produced by government agencies. Paper maps.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...
>> Blame the levees.
And what happened to all the federal (tax) dollars given to LA for coastline engineering???
Hmm. Interesting pictures. I am no expert here, but something seems wrong. In both pictures, the background is identical, the picture taken angle is exact, the pole with the sign hasn’t changed angle, etc..
Unless the pictures taken were within just a couple of minutes from each other, I would have still expected some of the following.
The clouds would have changed between pictures, even just a little. The time of day doesn’t seem to have changed. The lighting hasn’t changed, nor the shadows.
Also, by changing the sign, I would have expected some modification to the pole angle, even accidental would have done something to it. But more specifically, I would think that the installer would have tried to straighten the pole.
‘I question the intelligence of anyone who lives below sea level.’
I don’t think they could manage it without the gov/tax payers funding their levees, pumps & other major infrastructure.
The picture is photoshopped.
The background matches too well in both pictures.
Indeed. Check the clouds. Did they "beam" in a new sign?
The Gulf Coast has been SUBSIDING for decades. One subdivision in Baytown sunk below water level, while the water level remained constant. Same with some condos in the Seabrook area.
Global warming enthusiasts say it is rising waters, but the water levels have not risen significantly in the last decades. Add hurricanes and floods along the Mississippi which open up the delta and you have more open waters and mud flats.
oops ... yeah ... yer right
Death Valley comes to mind. Same sentiment, different reason...
Hahahaha! Very good sir!
Wonderful article.
As a Louisiana born (New Iberia) ex-native, it saddens me greatly to see such a wonderful wetland succumb to folks who think they can change nature.
However, given the NFL grade mosquitoes, 99+% relative humidity, and politics which are close to Obama-level corrupt, I tell folks that Louisiana is a great place to be FROM.
Exactly. The levees prevent silt from reaching the wetlands. The wetlands dies and salt water advances.
Toucan Sam ?
We should get to the important things first.
Wow, the salt domes and the French land patterns along the rivers really jumps out at you. I think I saw Boudreaux and Thibadeaux out there on their pirou.
The State of Depression?
Yup, pretty damn silly map.
According to it, I should be underwater and here I sit 15' above sea level with the road in front my house (La. Hwy 1) at 20' above sea level.
LOL, I was thinking about all my friends whose houses would be in the Gulf of Mexico if that map were even close to correct.
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