NOLA was a great city with a rich, wonderful history. But it is over.
If not now, it would have been soon. The city started out below sea level, surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico, swamps, the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. It was doomed from the start.
The Mississippi River has been naturally changing course for decades (maybe longer). The Army Corps of Engineers has been fighting against that for as far back as I can recall, and fighting a losing battle as flooding has continually gotten worse. The levee system around NOLA has been pumping millions of gallons of water every day to try and fend off flooding, that was before the storm. As the beaches eroded and the city continually sank the dams and levees offered less and less protection.
At the rate the city was sinking it would have been part of the Gulf of Mexico in a hundred years or less. After all is settled, It will be interesting to see how far below sea level the city limits are now, probably 14-15 feet.
It will cost 100 billion dollars or more to rebuild NOLA and take several decades. Most likely, the city will be smacked by 5 more major storms before the rebuilding is done.
If the rebuilding is done in 20 years, at the rate the city was sinking before the storm it will be completely submerged in one generation. Now that the city is 2-3 feet closer to being under the Gulf of Mexico than it was before the storm that timetable is moved up by 20 years.
Is it really worth the cost to rebuild the doomed city, knowing full well that all efforts are in vain and within a single generation an eaven greater catastrophe WILL happen and all will be lost and can never be recovered?
If not now, it would have been soon. The city started out below sea level, surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico, swamps, the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. It was doomed from the start.
The Mississippi River has been naturally changing course for decades (maybe longer). The Army Corps of Engineers has been fighting against that for as far back as I can recall, and fighting a losing battle as flooding has continually gotten worse. The levee system around NOLA has been pumping millions of gallons of water every day to try and fend off flooding, that was before the storm. As the beaches eroded and the city continually sank the dams and levees offered less and less protection.
At the rate the city was sinking it would have been part of the Gulf of Mexico in a hundred years or less. After all is settled, It will be interesting to see how far below sea level the city limits are now, probably 14-15 feet.
It will cost 100 billion dollars or more to rebuild NOLA and take several decades. Most likely, the city will be smacked by 5 more major storms before the rebuilding is done.
If the rebuilding is done in 20 years, at the rate the city was sinking before the storm it will be completely submerged in one generation. Now that the city is 2-3 feet closer to being under the Gulf of Mexico than it was before the storm that timetable is moved up by 20 years.
Is it really worth the cost to rebuild the doomed city, knowing full well that all efforts are in vain and within a single generation an eaven greater catastrophe WILL happen and all will be lost and can never be recovered?
