[Rhodes22-list] Why Rebuild New Orleans?
Bill Effros
bill at effros.com
Fri Sep 16 16:47:21 EDT 2005
What an interesting discussion!
Why didn't we have this discussion after 9/11?
Everything south of Canal Street in NYC is landfill. Wall Street was
the site of a dike built by the Dutch. The current World Trade Center
site is protected by a system of levees that completely surrounds the
foundation of the buildings. The area within these levees is called
"The Bath Tub" and there was considerable concern after 9/11 that the
levees might not hold. Luckily, they did hold. This time.
There are many subway lines located directly under the World Trade
Center site, including some that go all the way into New Jersey. With
our newfound knowledge of physics -- namely the fact that water travels
down hill -- we can now understand that if the levees surrounding the
World Trade Center had breached, all 600 miles of the underground
portion of the New York City Subway system would have carried the water
through tunnels to every part of the city. All electrical lines in
Manhattan are also underground, as are all sewer lines, water lines, gas
lines, drainage pipes, telephone lines, steam lines, etc.
And yet, few people said "Don't rebuild the World Trade Center!".
(Although, to be fair, some did.)
And what about Afghanistan? Why are we rebuilding that place? We
invaded Afghanistan because the Taliban wouldn't hand over Osama. Osama
still lives in Afghanistan, and the current government hasn't handed him
over, either. Drug lords are currently running Afghanistan (the good
old free enterprise system). Why aren't we making them rebuild the
infrastructure?
And what about Iraq? Why are we rebuilding Iraq? They have more oil
than we do. They had one of the few police systems in the world that
was demonstrably more corrupt than the police in New Orleans. We can't
afford to rebuild Iraq. We just don't have enough money.
Let's not start calling people names here. It's clear that labels don't
apply. There is a fundamental question of government that we are all
trying to address. It boils down to "Whose ox gets gored?"
I will continue to attack President Bush because I think the government
he represents doesn't work, and I feel we must change it before we get
deeper and deeper into a hole. No nation on earth has enough money to
fix everything that's broken. Choices MUST be made. The current
government operates in a fantasy land of trying to please everyone. "No
ox gets gored!" is their campaign platform. But life doesn't work that
way, and at some point the rest of us must address the issues.
New Orleans will be rebuilt because it sits on a strategic waterway.
That's why it's there in the first place. New York, San Francisco,
Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Boston, Key West, Miami,
Norfolk, Rotterdam, Tokyo, London--all will be rebuilt if flooded for
the same reason.
But there are better ways and worse ways to accomplish this, and I, for
one, fear that the current government won't really choose any way at
all. This discussion has been about my fear. We can't do what has been
proposed. Somebody's ox is going to get gored. It probably won't be
mine, even though I am prepared to give up something for the common good.
Bravo to all who have participated in this thread! The President has
proposed spending more money than we have to rebuild New Orleans. Where
is that money going to come from? Shall we take it from our kids?
Shall we take it from Iraq? Shall we take it from Afghanistan? Shall
we take it from Health Care? Shall we take it from the poor? Or shall
we, Heaven Forfend!, take it from ourselves?
Waving American flags and putting bumper stickers on our cars will not
solve this problem. Sending $25 to the Red Cross won't solve it,
either. Going out on flooded streets in boats to rescue victims of a
disaster does help--but only for the moment. There will be more
disasters. There will be more wars. There will be more poor...In
short, there will always be some things governments do better than
individuals. That's why we have governments.
But then, we must decide what those things are, and how much we are
willing to pay for them.
Bill Effros
Herb Parsons wrote:
>Actually, that was where I was headed.
>
>After we cat-5 proofed all the coastal cities, we'd need to tornado-proof all of the "tornado alley" cities, then earthquake proof the west coast, I believe a few cities get avalanches from time to time, and don't forget the heat wave in the north a few years ago... I think you see where I'm going.
>
>
>Herb Parsons
>
>S/V O'Jure
> 1976 O'Day 25
> Lake Grapevine, N TX
>
>S/V Reve de Papa
> 1971 Coronado 35
> Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana Coast
>
>
>
>>>>lemenagerie22 at yahoo.com 9/15/2005 4:49:52 PM >>>
>>>>
>>>>
>Herb:
>Most of us down here in South Texas would rather the government not provide cat 5 proofing. We're already sick of high taxes and besides, it would ruin the view.
>
>A lot of us who live here on the coast understand the risks. Hey, you rool the dice, you take your chances....
>jw
>
>
>Herb Parsons <hparsons at parsonsys.com> wrote:
>Question for all:
>
>How many category 5 hurricanes have struck New Orleans in recorded history?
>
>Another question,
>
>What if "bulletproofing" the city against a cat 5 costs more than the repair bill for NO?
>
>Yet another,
>
>Why stop with New Orleans? Why not cat-5 proof every coastal city from South Texas to the northern part of North Carolina? I mean, I know that would be trillions of dollars, but if it's good for one city, isn't it good for all?
>
>
>Herb Parsons
>
>S/V O'Jure
>1976 O'Day 25
>Lake Grapevine, N TX
>
>S/V Reve de Papa
>1971 Coronado 35
>Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana Coast
>
>
>
>>>>pthorn at nc.rr.com 9/15/2005 2:49:11 PM >>>
>>>>
>>>>
>Saroj,
>
>I completely agree with you and Rummy about that. I makes no sense to
>rebuild "as was". At the least, they should first upfit the levees to
>withstand a Category 5, or plan on converting to a "new world Venice".
>Proper planning could have avoided the whole catastrophe. If it's too
>expensive to do it properly, then perhaps it shouldn't be done.
>
>PT
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Saroj Gilbert"
>To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
>Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 3:27 PM
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Why Rebuild New Orleans?
>
>
>
>
>>Its an incredible dilemma given the ecology of the area... however New
>>Orleans is truly a national treasure rich with historical significance...
>>maybe they'll have to pull a Chicago where the city was built up on stilts
>>essentially... used to be down a story... often when they excavate for new
>>buildings they find store fronts and evidence of streets at what is now
>>
>>
>the
>
>
>>basement area... You can walk from one end of the downtown area to the
>>other underground still...
>>
>>Saroj
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From:
>>To:
>>Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:56 PM
>>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Why Rebuild New Orleans?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>The state of Wisconsin has had some experience with moving towns that
>>>
>>>
>were
>
>
>>>located in flood prone zones. The southwestern part of the state is very
>>>hilly
>>>and is prone to flash floods, some of epic proportions. After rebuilding
>>>several cities time after time, they finally figured out that the three
>>>cities
>>>couldn't stay were they were. It took a lot of time and persuasion, but
>>>the
>>>cities relocated and are thriving today due to both state and federal
>>>aid. The
>>>point is that they are no longer flooding. Cities can be moved and
>>>people's
>>>attitude's changed. How many more people need die simply to keep a city
>>>where it
>>>shouldn't be.
>>>Perhaps we should look to correct a problem that was created a long time
>>>ago
>>>by.......of course, the French. My vote goes with relocating the city.
>>>
>>>Rummy said that.
>>>__________________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
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>Jim White
>Le Menagerie
>www.lemenagerie.blogspot.com
>
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