This may help in understanding the challenge: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/t-p/k...katrina/stories/083105_a01_floodgetworse.html The catastrophic flooding that filled the bowl that is New Orleans on Monday and Tuesday will only get worse over the next few days because rainfall from Hurricane Katrina continues to flow into Lake Pontchartrain from north shore rivers and streams, and east winds and a 17.5-foot storm crest on the Pearl River block the outflow water through the Rigolets and Chef Menteur Pass. The lake is normally 1 foot above sea level, while the city of New Orleans is an average of 6 feet below sea level. But a combination of storm surge and rainfall from Katrina have raised the lake's surface to 6 feet above sea level, or more. All of that water moving from the lake has found several holes in the lake's banks - all pouring into New Orleans. Water that crossed St. Charles Parish in an area where the lakefront levee has not yet been completed, and that backed up from the lake in Jefferson Parish canals, is funneling into Kenner and Metairie. A 500-yard and growing breach in the eastern wall of the 17th Street Canal separating New Orleans from Metairie is pouring hundreds of thousands of gallons of lake water per second into the New Orleans area. Water also is flowing through two more levee breaches along the Industrial Canal, which created a Hurricane Betsy-on-steroids flood in the Lower 9th Ward on Monday that is now spreading south into the French Quarter and other parts of the city. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned Tuesday evening that an attempt to plug the holes in the 17th Street Canal had failed, and the floodwaters were expected to continue to rise rapidly throughout the night. Eventually, Nagin said, the water could reach as high as 3 feet above sea level, meaning it could rise to 12 to 15 feet high in some parts of the city. Louisiana State University Hurricane Center researcher Ivor van Heerden warned that Nagin's estimates could be too low because the lake water won't fall quickly during the next few days. "We don't have the weather conditions to drive the water out of Lake Pontchartrain, and at the same time, all the rivers on the north shore are in flood," he said. "That water is just going to keep rising in the city until it's equal to the level of the lake. "Unless they can use sandbags to compartmentalize the flooded areas, the water in the city will rise everywhere to the same level as the lake."
You gotta rebuild it and save as much of what is there as possible. There is so much history there we can't afford to lose it. However, there HAS to be an upgrade in the flood prevention systems.
That sounds bad. I wonder how much different it will look from today. It truly is becoming like Atlantis down there. There will be sub rides and scuba trips to the ancient city of New Orleans.
eventually, that is true. i don't know if there will be tours. but nola sinking was considered to be inevitable by many.
I have spent a lot of time in the NO area. I have a lot of family there (thankfully they are all ok - don't know about the homes yet...) NO is in deep trouble. The city will flood to lake level - which is worse than it ever was thanks to the dyke system around the Mississipi. That being said, I kinda like this guys idea (yanked off another forum):
Tillman Fertitta brings you : Nawlins - the Sunken City! Thrill as glass bottom boats take you and your family to an underwater land of restaurants, attractions, and casinos! We guar-an-tee... no poor people! Only shiny freindly staff in smashing red coat, white jodhpur, and top hats, ready to lead you with a brass ring to Landry's.
sounds interesting...but who in the world would insure it when you're telling people, "you need to understand this is going to continually sink?"
Well, that's where it gets interesting. For the sake of argument, NO is insured right now, yet it has been sinking for ages (no more silt from the mississipi).
It should be relocated, not just rebuilt. You can't win against mother nature. She's patient and powerful. Eventually, the ocean/lake will win. If not now, then later. Rebuild in a location that's got a better future.
Impossible. Eventually the mississipi will overcome the dyke system and change course again (as it has done forever prior to the levee system). When it does that, all bets are off. Old Man River will have revenge on his mind.
After the Great Storm of 1900, the Island of Galveston was raised on average, 10-15 feet by pumping in sand from the bottom of the Gulf. It was a "modern marvel" as they were basically using 19th century technology. The family on my mother's side goes back 4 generations on Galveston as original immigrants and survived the Great Storm in the attic of their home. When you drive down Broadway, imagine all of the old homes that survived the storm about 10-15 feet lower--you can dig down and find streets, sidewalks, picket fences and foundations that were simply covered up and built on top of. New Orleans is in a MUCH worse situation...I don't know about you all, but when I see the devastation of The Crescent City I get a lump in my throat because it's like a good neighbor being wiped out. They have 2 major Levee failures and another about to give way and ZERO working pumps...How do you drain a city whose highest point is 6 feet above sea level and 80-85$ BELOW the Gulf, Mississippi, and lake Pontchartrain?? We will see, in the coming years, one of our country's greatest civil engineering triumphs or utter collapse when New Orleans is rebuilt.
There's been lots of reports on this on the prime time news shows. There's some sort of special insurance for those homes. Tax dollars pay for them to get rebuilt up over and over again.
Ya know, the Galveston Bay area is similar to New Orleans in that many parts are below sea level and there wouldn't be any place for the water to go if a Storm like Katrina hit. I think it's time to consider moving...anybody know any realtors in the Austin area?
at this point, i can't imagine you'd find banks to fund...insurance companies to insure. i'm afraid new orleans will not be the same again in our lifetimes. this is different than just rebuilding beach homes. very different.
I think it's still too early to go to this extreme. I'm not saying that you're wrong, I'm just not ready to jump to that conclusion yet.
How do you not start from scratch...It makes sense they would rebuild it, but there would have to be a complete re-engineering of the way the city is done...
i've seen first-hand those "screw pumps" moving TONS of water out of Texas City during a flood. those things seem archaic, but they work. why doesn't NO have such things surrounding the city???
