Should I go to New Orleans and do contracting work for a few months?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Is the port of New Orleans closed? How long before full operations will be restored?

nobody even knows when the levee breach will be repaired, and the flood waters will stop rising. And then its gonna be awhile till the waters are pumped, and the roads are reopened (and many will need repairs)


For now traffic will shift from river to rail, and from NoLa to all other ports. This will increase costs, both cause the existing routings over New Orleans was the cheapest (which is why it was chosen) and cause the shift will press capacity on the rail lines and at ports.

I would be particularly worried about rail car shortages for moving grain. I would suggest one will see an increase in world grain prices. Good news for the EU, Argentina, Brazil. Bad news for a lot of other people. There will be deaths due to the hurricane outside North America.

[lord of the mark]

"U.S. grain exports from the Gulf of Mexico were paralyzed. Barges laden with corn, soybeans and wheat were stranded on the lower reaches of the Mississippi River since Saturday.

Chicago Board of Trade soybeans were strong after agronomists said late Monday that the wind and rain left over from Katrina could damage Midwest crops, with the moisture doing little to improve yields."

[Richelieu]

A couple of friends of mine did that for a few months after Andrew. They made a lot of friends and $$$

[Richelieu]

Originally posted by Dis
We should send in Haliburton.

Well, there IS oil in the area...

[Brundlefly]

I would like to go there and volunteer. Does anyone know how to get involved as a volunteer down there?