So now that New Orleans is underwater, and the devastation of property is huge, various charities have started beating the drums about raising money to "rebuild New Orleans".
I'm forced to ask myself one simple question: "Why?"
New Orleans sits below sea level, and is only able to sustain itself as "dry" artificially via the use of pumping equipment that runs 24x7, as well as huge levees to keep the water out (the levees breaking are what caused most of New Orleans' problems).
Scientists have been predicting for years that New Orleans was going to vanish eventually. The disintegration of the Mississippi River delta, the fact that it was below sea level, all these things made it clear to scientists that New Orleans' days were numbered. While it was a convenient place to build a city a couple hundred years ago, when the delta was still above sea level, in today's reality, it'd simply be stupid to build there.
But now, New Orleans is gone. It's essentially been wiped off the face of the earth, Old Testament-style. If we know (as we do) that the delta is going to continue to disintegrate and New Orleans' problems are only going to continue, why do we rebuild there?
Isn't it the much smarter investment to say -- if we're going to spend money at all -- we're eminent-domain'ing your property, putting it under-water as part of the delta, preserving it as a public wetland and/or historic property, now go buy yourself a new house/whatever somewhere else that isn't going to sink into the sea like Atlantis.
I understand New Orleans has lots of history, but the time to face the cold hard reality of the situation is when you're looking at billions upon billions of dollars in rebuilding costs. Isn't now an excellent opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and -- if you're going to spend those billions anyway -- spend them on things which aren't going to be wiped out again some time soon?
I tend to agree with you. I'll donate to charities in order for them to help feed and clothe those who need it, but rebuild and watch it happen all over again is ludicrous.
The semi-funny thing is that the bulk of folks below the poverty line (which are the bulk of folks in that area) ARE leaving. Most of them were living paycheck to paycheck and are not only looking for shelter, but jobs as well. They can't afford the city to be closed for months while it drains.
The folks calling for rebuilding are the few rich folks who did things like run bars and restaurants for Mardi Gras.
To be honest, the biggest cost will be moving the port facilities, but I absolutely agree that rebuilding is stupid.
Remember how AMERICANS wanted to come together for 9/11? Well disaster strikes again an we turn our backs on each other!
I am a VICTIM of Katrina and how dare you people ask such questions while people are in the streets dying and others are suffering. Why rebuild New Orleans!!??!! Why rebuild Florida they are hit more time by storms than anyone. You cant help natural disasters or any disaster for that matter. New Orleans itself is natural landmark the governement spends money on keeping up Plantation Homes that they call national landmarks but you question why would you rebuil a city that has a LIFETIME of history? Why reuild in California when you know another earthquake may hit. Why rebuil abuilding after it burns when it can burn again. Things happen horrible things and people’s true colors come out when they do….and I am glad to see how fellow AMERICANS feel and think when their neighbors lose EVERYTHING!!! When 9/11 happened everyone swore this would change how we acted in situations like these but I see now that I was right not to believe b/c as usual AMERICA FORGETS and thats why history repeats itself. You all should be ashamed and should be taken this time to pray for us instead of putting us down. I hope you al are having a good nights sleep because thousands are not tonight and many more dont even know where their families are but may God BLESS people like you and hopefully he watches out for people like me because my mom has no job to go to because her school was washed away and ya’ll are asking questions like this while people are suffering!!!???
And I am not a rich person who runs a bar for Mardi Gras I am someone who are wathing people realize they no longer have a home and people who can help (like you) are writint things like this!
Kewain,
You misunderstand I think. I'm not in favor of using government funds to rebuild in Florida, or in California, or in the Mississippi river basin north of you where it floods all the time. I think people choose to live where they live, and they need to accept the risks of that as part of the decision-making process on the "where should I live?" question.
New Orleans, though, isn't just a "this *could* happen again", like rebuilding a building after a fire, or such. This is a *will* happen again, and not in some far-away indeterminate future, but within the next 70 years or so. New Orleans is sinking at an amazing rate, and with each year it becomes more of a herculean effort to keep the water out of the city.
Lots of national landmarks have, grudgingly, been allowed to slip into the past, because we were capable of accepting that they were impossible to keep. (New Hampshire's "Old Man Of The Mountain" is an immediate example that comes to mind)
Nobody is saying that they want to take pleasure in your neighbors' suffering and deaths. Instead, we're saying that -- if we're going to all chip in to spend money on something -- why not make it something which ensures that nobody goes through what you're going through now, ever again.
New Orleans *will* suffer the same fate again, it's pretty guaranteed by the laws of physics, since it's so far below sea level, and surrounded by water. Instead of spending money to put people back into harm's way, it would be better spent moving those people to more stable places to live.
Certainly, people could choose to remain there, I suppose, but they should do so knowing that not everyone in the country thinks that it's necessarily the smartest idea in the world, and that they - with this opportunity to leave - will be in a problem of their own creation.
I'd have to agree with Derek. Why rebuild something that will just flood again because AMERICANS will forget what happened in 10-15 years and it will cost way too much money to maintain the levees and then they will just fail again.
I live in MO and went through the flood of '93. I remember people wanting to rebuild in the flood plain. Now 12 years later, people are starting to want to build more levees and build in that flood plain. WHY??? The odds are no matter what levee they build, it will flood again. Maybe not next year or 5 years or even 10, but it will happen. Laws of physics and nature reclaiming what it wants.
I say spend the money on relocating those people to other areas. Save what you can in New Orleans proper, but for damn sure don't build some half-assed levee that can't even contain a level 2 hurricane. If the citizens of New Orleans choose to return and rebuild there, why should I, a citizen from MO, pay for that stupidity...
And on a side note - I hope all the environmental people are noting what happens when our refineries shut down or slow down. Maybe now someone will push for a more modern facility to be built that can help in situations like this. Since that last refinery was built in the 1980's.
I think the distinction between New Orleans and, say, a hurricane in Florida or an earthquake in California is that, whatever damage is done, Florida and California can pretty much repair and rebuild starting the day after the disaster. In New Orleans, the place tends to be under water for long periods of time, which damages _everything_--even high-rise buildings may have to go, and toxic sludge poisons everything, to the extent that the GNP of the US is not enough to fix it. It's just too expensive to have a city there. If people want to make a go at it, do it on a private basis, and self-insure (ha!) and don't ask taxpayers to bail you out.
you are all a bunch of sadistic a-holes whom don't give a hot damn for anything or anyone except your damn selves.