Remember New Orleans?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
There is plenty of blame to go around here. I loathe Bush, but a good part of this (perhaps most of it) is on the local officials. They pretty clearly suck.

Personally, though this may sound cold and impersonal, I don't really think rebuilding N.O. just as it was is a good idea.

-Arrian

Back when the hurricane hit, there were folks suggesting abandoning the entire city and moving it to higher ground. Now there are folks who think it will be shame, a blight upon America, if we dont make the two most low lying wards safe against a Cat 5. I must say Im puzzled.

And yes, I think the Cost Benefit of rebuilding Lower Manhattan far exceeded the Cost Benefit we will get from restoring the lower wards of NO to the way they were, plus protecting them against a Cat 5 hurricane.

[Arrian]

Back when the hurricane hit, there were folks suggesting abandoning the entire city and moving it to higher ground. Now there are folks who think it will be shame, a blight upon America, if we dont make the two most low lying wards safe against a Cat 5. I must say Im puzzled.

I don't think they are the same people, LotM.

As for me, I was less than impressed with both the short-term and long-term planning on the part of the local and federal officials:

- the levees were designed to protect against a Cat2/3 storm. Ok, how is that enough when we know there are Cat 4's and 5's? Edit: given the consequences (well-known) of a levee breach?

- funding for the levee system appears to have been siphoned off to other things and it was also cut (perhaps b/c it wasn't being used to upgrade the levees?)

- the evacuation order came late and was not strong enough... which was noted by some at the time.

I've been to N.O. I enjoyed it. I have nothing against the city, but neither do I have a significant emotional attachment to it. I think that only part of it should be reclaimed/protected - stick to the higher ground.

-Arrian

[Dis]

It's obvious the country has not shut down with the loss of a major port city such as New Orleans. We can live without it.

The only thing worth keeping is bourbon street and chicks lifting their tops during mardis gras. . Sadly, this is one way New Orleans outdoes my great city of Las Vegas .

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dis
It's obvious the country has not shut down with the loss of a major port city such as New Orleans. We can live without it.
.

er, Dis, thats cause all the major port facilities were reopened within weeks after the hurricane. We're NOT living without it - the essential parts are functioning.

[Dis]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


er, Dis, thats cause all the major port facilities were reopened within weeks after the hurricane. We're NOT living without it - the essential parts are functioning.

I'm not aware of that. Where are all the dock workers living at? You need cargo handlers and the like to load and unload all that cargo.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dis


I'm not aware of that. Where are all the dock workers living at? You need cargo handlers and the like to load and unload all that cargo.

actually you dont - the most important commodity is grain, and thats bulk unloaded. Modern ports are very automated - there isnt a lot of lifting of crates and stuff - that sort of thing is loaded into 40 ft containers back at the factory.

The blue collar labor that is working the ports is living in the counties upriver from NO, or in the Metairie, across the river etc. Those whose houses arent livable are probably in hotels, trailers, etc. Or even commuting down from Baton Rouge.

IIUC the absence of housing in the lowlying wards of east NO IS creating a labor shortage in the low wage sectors in downtown NO (ie not the port) and the tourist sector. Much of the business activity of downtown NO did relocate to Baton Rouge and elsewhere, and how permanent that will be, or should be, is not clear yet, IIUC. But the port is back in operation right where it was.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

I think the botom line here is when is the city going to be rebuilt and whos at fault for the disaster. Well to put this midely there is no city, state, county or town that is completley inescapable of a disaster. To claim other wise is unrealastic. Beng from a state that actually has a coastlne, i know that these towns around the coast are responsible to keep the barriers in good condition that protect them from hurricanes and such.
Anyway the cty will be rebuilt, this isnt the lost city of atlantis after all its N.O. And am sure after it is rebuilt they will be at just as much risk as they were before katrina hit, just lke galveston and and all the texas coastal cities. I am sure the time and money will be allocated to build the city to what it once was. After all the city is still half functioning. People still live there and are going bout ther business as they are able to do so

[DanS]

My sis lives in a suburb of New Orleans and even though most of the suburb wasn't harmed, the displacement is just huge. The supermarkets still aren't open past 5 pm. They're paying > $12 an hour for stockers plus many thousands for signing bonuses (a fortune for the area) and still there's nobody to do the work. People are living in trailers along the roads of her subdivision. The highways are packed -- they weren't built for with so many people in mind. And this isn't even an area that was devastated.

Looking at Bush (or the federal gov't) as somebody who could fix this, if he just devoted the resources, is absurd. You may spend all the money in the world, but if there's nobody to do the work, nothing will get done. It will take years just for the local folks to go through all of their own personal and community decisions based on the new reality that they have to work within. And even in the best of times, it takes decades to build the infrastructure of a typical American city.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Mrs. Tuberski
You have used 911 as an example, there is no way anyone new that some idiot was going to fly two giant planes into the center of two buildings.

That's not true. We were warned of it repeatedly. We chose to ignore the danger until it happened. Hell, the first episde of The Lone Gunmen (a spin-off of the X-Files was about "terrorists (the CIA actually) hijacking a plane and driving into a NYC building. Hell, we even knew that one major terrorist leader had made plans to do it.

Just like in New Orleans, everyone knew it was a matter of time, but no one acted to try and make a difference.