It's time to face the facts folks

[Downdraft]

Going beyond the immediate needs of the area we have watched the death of a modern American city. Because of the incredible contamination it will be virtually impossible to clean the City to a point where human beings can live in it again. The hazardous materials will remain embedded in the soil and in the buildings for years and years to come. New Orleans I'm afraid is a city on life support right now and the patient is not expected to survive.

[coolwater]

I agree and have been saying this for days now. I don't think NOLA can be rebuilt and I don't think it would be wise to do so.

[blueeyes_austin]

Going beyond the immediate needs of the area we have watched the death of a modern American city. Because of the incredible contamination it will be virtually impossible to clean the City to a point where human beings can live in it again. The hazardous materials will remain embedded in the soil and in the buildings for years and years to come. New Orleans I'm afraid is a city on life support right now and the patient is not expected to survive.

I think this is excessively pessimistic. Ninth Ward, St. Bernard's Parish...you may well be right. Most of Orleans parish will be fine...a lot of it never even flooded. Kenner and Metarie are already drying out. Westbank is largely dry.

I think we'll also find that the "contamination" angle is a bit overplayed as well.

[HurriCat]

Eh, it "could" be rebuilt, and after a bazillion of our tax dollars, I bet they do just that. It's basically free money, and it's "owed", right?

Individual responsibility and accountability are long dead in the minds of many educators, politicians and those in the media. Just look at all the defending being done as to why people just didn't get out of there when they were warned to do so. They also now justify the looting and anarchy. They are trying to fan the flame of racial division for political gain as well. Unlike NO, their arguments do not hold water when tested.

So I think that they will rebuild, and that this will happen again.

Isn't the definition of insanity is when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result?

[CFL]

I've thought the same thing HuriCat. As much as I enjoyed certain things about NOLA it just doesn't seem prudent at all to have so many people potentially in harms way again.

[Sean in New Orleans]

New Orleans will be back with all of it's beauty, grandeur, and charm. Every one has different views of this situation. One can take a positive approach or a defeated approach. This thread is about a defeated approach. I use a different avenue. I absolutely assure everyone that the entire Gulf Coast region will be back and will be better than before. Humanity will survive in this region and so will the wonderful life this region affords millions, daily, who, with pride, call this area of the United States home. And I am as proud as ever to call New Orleans home. It is the most beautiful city in the US and has been through trying times before in it's 300 year history. It will be back sooner than many think.

[Praxus]

That sounds great and uplifting, but what happens when the next big hurricane comes along ?

[KatDaddy]

Agreed Sean! NOLA will rise above this disaster and will be an icon of strength and determination to survive the worst.

[Sean in New Orleans]

That sounds great and uplifting, but what happens when the next big hurricane comes along ?

What happens if it's Houston or Miami with a direct hit with this power and magnitude? Do we shut them down, as well?

[CajunMama]

Hooray Sean! Got to love your positive attitude!!!!!

[Downdraft]

I hope your right Sean I really do. But if your going to do it like it was if your gonna play Russian roulette with the levee system your going to get what you got. New Orleans besides being the city you describe is a great national seaport and yes, it's in the strategic interests of this country to keep it going. What I'm saying is you can't build it back if you do it the same way. I'm not a defeatest but I am a realist. When I hear you all allowed a levee system to be built knowing full well it couldn't withstand a major hurricane it dampens my enthusiasm to rebuild it without assurances we don't repeat stupidity. Yes, as another poster pointed out the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things over and over and expect a different result.

[loon]

That sounds great and uplifting, but what happens when the next big hurricane comes along ?

What happens if it's Houston or Miami with a direct hit with this power and magnitude? Do we shut them down, as well?

Dang, I forgot Houston and Miami were mostly below sea-level.......

[beenthru6]

That sounds great and uplifting, but what happens when the next big hurricane comes along ?

What happens if it's Houston or Miami with a direct hit with this power and magnitude? Do we shut them down, as well?

Houston and Miami don't sit below sea level surrounded by a lake and a huge river with levees that didn't offer much protection.

[Dean4Storms]

New Orleans will be back with all of it's beauty, grandeur, and charm. Every one has different views of this situation. One can take a positive approach or a defeated approach. This thread is about a defeated approach. I use a different avenue. I absolutely assure everyone that the entire Gulf Coast region will be back and will be better than before. Humanity will survive in this region and so will the wonderful life this region affords millions, daily, who, with pride, call this area of the United States home. And I am as proud as ever to call New Orleans home. It is the most beautiful city in the US and has been through trying times before in it's 300 year history. It will be back sooner than many think.

I agree Sean, what a bunch of hyped defeatism. If Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two much more contaminated and devasted cities could be rebuilt after WW2, so can New Orleans. New Orleans is not completely destroyed or flooded, the media is making it seem as if the entire city is gone and that is a LIE. I have some extended family involved in the Coast Guard rescues and the report is that those places moslty on the east side that are severly flooded are the main trouble spots and that the rest of New Orleans is mostly a matter of regaining Civil Control. Of course the media draws numbers of viewers by finding and focusing on the bad and so the American public is left with thoughts that the city is GONE. They must shoot these Thugs and Troublemakers on the spot and regain control, the problem is POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!

[Praxus]

I don't think they are below sea level and need an extensive and vulnerable levee system to artificially create an environment suitable for a city.

Anyways I'm not taking a rebuild or not position. Just that it would be kinda silly to rebuild and be vulnerable to the same situation all over again.

[Sean in New Orleans]

If we shut down New Orleans, completely, and with all it does for this country, the ripple effect would collapse the United States, as it would with any major city in America. If New Orleans and it's surroundings were put out of commission, then gasoline for travel would not be available to US citizens, at all. And what would be available would be around $15.00 to $20.00 a gallon for gas. Do people realize that oil is changed into gasoline for vehicles in New Orleans? Almost half of US gasoline conversion from oil takes place in Greater New Orleans.

[Dean4Storms]

That sounds great and uplifting, but what happens when the next big hurricane comes along ?

What happens if it's Houston or Miami with a direct hit with this power and magnitude? Do we shut them down, as well?

Houston and Miami don't sit below sea level surrounded by a lake and a huge river with levees that didn't offer much protection.

Wrong. Miami could be susceptible to something very similiar if a Cat. 5 moved directly over it and then stalled. Miami is surrounded by the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. We all SAW Houston flood in a Tropical Storm named Allison, GET REAL!

[Sean in New Orleans]

New Orleans will be back with all of it's beauty, grandeur, and charm. Every one has different views of this situation. One can take a positive approach or a defeated approach. This thread is about a defeated approach. I use a different avenue. I absolutely assure everyone that the entire Gulf Coast region will be back and will be better than before. Humanity will survive in this region and so will the wonderful life this region affords millions, daily, who, with pride, call this area of the United States home. And I am as proud as ever to call New Orleans home. It is the most beautiful city in the US and has been through trying times before in it's 300 year history. It will be back sooner than many think.

I agree Sean, what a bunch of hyped defeatism. If Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two much more contaminated and devasted cities could be rebuilt after WW2, so can New Orleans. New Orleans is not completely destroyed or flooded, the media is making it seem as if the entire city is gone and that is a LIE. I have some extended family involved in the Coast Guard rescues and the report is that those places moslty on the east side that are severly flooded are the main trouble spots and that the rest of New Orleans is mostly a matter of regaining Civil Control. Of course the media draws numbers of viewers by finding and focusing on the bad and so the American public is left with thoughts that the city is GONE. They must shoot these Thugs and Troublemakers on the spot and regain control, the problem is POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!

My home sits fine with little or no damage. Both of my vehicles are fine, but stuck in a private, enclosed garage that requires electricity to get the vehicles out. It just requires patience.

[Cookiely]

Personally I think that no rebuilding on the coast should be done below the surge line.

[DoctorHurricane2003]

rebuild on northshore- yes

rebuild on southshore- no