Feds to Rebuild New Orleans Levees

[SandyD]

You're right, pedro. But I don't think that figure is cat 5 LEVEE upgrades. It's hurricane protection. It includes projects to protect/restore wetlands which used to absorb the storm surge before it got to New Orleans.

There's a lot more to it than the levees.

This plan would not only protect the port, but also about 8 oil refineries plus at least one gas pipeline. What's the economic impact to the country as a whole if the port fails? Of rebuilding the refineries and pipelines in other locations?

$32 billion is a lot of money, but this project would take at least 10 years. Doesn't have to come all at once. Don't want people to turn away from the project based on the pricetag alone. Let's take time to look at it from all sides.

[GAC]

I fully understand people's emotional and historical attachment to this region and N.O., but personally I don't think you can build a protective system to adequately and safely protect the people when the region, from a geographical and environmental standpoint, is one huge "dangerzone".

[Chip R]

I fully understand people's emotional and historical attachment to this region and N.O., but personally I don't think you can build a protective system to adequately and safely protect the people when the region, from a geographical and environmental standpoint, is one huge "dangerzone".

You could pretty much say the same thing for San Francisco and Los Angeles. They are both on fault lines and if a big earthquake hits in just the right places, it will be a disaster. And you could also say the same thing about any city on the Gulf coast and the lower eastern seaboard. They could get hit with hurricanes just as easy as New Orleans could again. It's not just an emotional and historic attachment. It's economic as well. You remember how much gas prices went up after Katrina? As for guaranteeing those levees won't break, something like that is tough to do. It's not like buying a car and getting a guarantee it will run or your money back. What happens if those levees break again even after they were guaranteed to hold up? That isn't the type of thing you can get your money back on. If a city like Chicago got hit with a tornado that caused major damage people wouldn't just say. "To hell with them. It costs too much to fix. If they didn't want to get hit by tornadoes they shouldn't live there." I don't hear people saying that they shouldn't have built L.A. on a fault line.

[GAC]

And you could also say the same thing about any city on the Gulf coast and the lower eastern seaboard. They could get hit with hurricanes just as easy as New Orleans could again.

Yes, but are those areas below sea level and have to have intricate levee systems to the north and south keep the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain from pouring into the center of the city? Without this drainage system, much of the city would be engulfed in water. New Orleans occupies swampland created by millions of years' worth of silt deposits from the Mississippi River.

Ironically, all the pumps, canals, and levees that work so hard to keep New Orleans above water are actually causing the city to sink at a rate of three feet per century. Some scientists predict that by the year 2100, the "City That Care Forgot" will be under water. Does New Orleans have a deep-sea Mardi Gras in its future?

If a city like Chicago got hit with a tornado that caused major damage people wouldn't just say. "To hell with them. It costs too much to fix. If they didn't want to get hit by tornadoes they shouldn't live there." I don't hear people saying that they shouldn't have built L.A. on a fault line.

How often does Chicago get hit by a tornado? Is Chicago at a geographical disadvantage? N.O. is, and also sits in a hurricane zone.

[SandyD]

GAC, it's not just the pumps, canals, levees. The digging for oil and dredging of the river. The loss of the surrounding wetlands and barrier islands. For centuries, New Orleans was at less of a disadvantage than Miami, for example. The coast was farther away. The surrounding wetlands that are disappearing protected New Orleans from a direct hit.

Not all of New Orleans is below sea level. And if the levee system that we already have lived up to its promised cat 3 protection, we'd be pretty much back to normal by now. We'd hardly know anything happened.

And don't underestimate the economic impact of the port of New Orleans. If the port doesn't recover, it'll cost more to export midwestern ag products and to import bulk supplies for midwestern factories.

I'm hoping that the city planners will take a good look at how and where we build. Create a smaller but stronger city, and build an infrastructure that includes light rail from Baton Rouge to Gulfport Ms. Think more regionally than locally.

That's my hope, but I can't see beyond my early morning wake up call.