I think I’ve had CNN on all day. 24 hours.
This is pretty serious. Wayyyy more than I originally thought…and I originally thought it was really bad.
I think most of the news outlets are WAYYY underreporting this part of the story. Analysts wre predicting that New Orleans was going to be instantly destroyed by Katrina. When that didn’t happen during the height of the storm it’s like they just shrugged their shoulders and focused on Mississippi. The levees have burst and the city is filling with water which is the worst case scenario only it’s a day late. Who knows how to fix a levee with a raging torrent flowing in? New Orleans is below sea level so that water is never going to go anywhere by itself. They pumps aren’t working.
Engineers and crews must:
- Fix the levees. From what I have read, that is extremely difficult to do.
- Fix the pumps. How? They are so far underwater and broken. Even if they get them started, there is no where to pump.
Bottom line: Loss of most of the city. Biggest disaster in U.S. history. 1+ million people homeless for weeks to indefinite timeframe. Most of the city unihabitable for weeks to months.
I think they’re reporting it accurately. I’ve been watching all day and the reality is that this city’s recovery will last years. I cannot begin to imagine how insurmountable this must feel to the residents. My friend’s home is a total loss (like so many thousands of others). I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around it. We can only hope the remaining part of the hurricane season spares these folks.
The more I watch it, the more I am reminded of all the shows I’ve seen about the 1900 Galveston storm. It is making me sick to my stomach to watch the news. I had to turn it off and come here.
I have been of limited means most of my life, a sinlge parent with multiple chronic illnesses. I’ve often wondered what would happen to us if we should suddenly be thrust into the clutches of a natural disaster. My heart really goes out to the people who did not have the means necessary to evacuate.
Mean ol’ levee taught me t week and moan
I lived there for two years, leaving this last February. The house I lived in is an unknown; it’s in an area that hadn’t flooded badly yesterday, but who knows what other sort of damage it had. With the levee breaks the neighborhood my SO lived in is under water, no doubt. All these places I know, that I was in a lot, are virtually gone.
I am feeling physically ill. My HOME. My God. I love that city.
Mean ol’ levee taught me to weep and moan
Jeez how do you get so many typos in less than a dozen words?
I do too. It is going to get really bad. I still think most of the nation doesn’t know just how bad. They are talking about evacuating the whole city and closing it to everyone except engineering and emergency crews. I think that is a pretty good idea. You know the culture in New Orleans. The people that are left there are the ones that need to be there the least. If people stay there then some people are going to get shot (literally) for engaging in random acts of idiocy.
It’s beyond horrific seeing what’s happening. I feel as sick today as I expect most New Yorkers felt after 9/11 – who knows how many people I know lost their lives, ignoring even the property damage.
I honestly don’t know how the city will recover. Except that deep in my heart, I believe it will.
I heard one suggestion of plugging the holes in the levee with big ships. Which actually might work, at least until they can get something more permanent can be done. Heaven knows there’s probably enough damaged vessels floating around to use a couple for a “hole in the dike” scenario.
Bad bad bad.
No jokes from Inigo today.
I think the breach is near where by Brother In Law & Sister In Law have their home. I’m pretty sure my Brother In Law is a Resident at Tulane and I just read they are evacuating Tulane.
They are hoping to seal the breach by dropping 6400 Lbs sand bags from Helo’s.
Most of the pumps are done.
I think we are losing an entire city.
My parents consulted a topographical map when they were looking to buy a home in Jefferson Parish so they could have the high ground in case of a flood. They’ve long since moved away from there so I don’t know if their strategy worked.
I think it’s all just horribly sad. I imagine the city will recover, someday, but it will take a long time. Beyond the money figures (insurance, etc), the human toll is what makes it all so horrible. I cannot imagine having everything you own wiped out, period. I feel absolutely awful for all the folks in that entire region.
Wow. I had no idea this was even going on. Is this even worse than Galviston '00 and New England '38? So sad.
Not to be dismissive of anyone’s pain or suffering here, but I’m curious why a city like this would be rebuilt, or even built in the first place. It’s not like this won’t happen again somewhere down the line. The place is in a big hole betwen the ocean and a huge lake–seems like the very definition of courting disaster to me.
Obviously, people own the land and can do what they like with it, but it can’t be the most logical thing to do.
Frankly, I agree with belladonna. If I was the governor of Louisiana, I’d declare that the levees would not be repaired, and the displaced people would have to build new homes elsewhere. Yeah, I’d get tossed out of office damn quick, but I would end my political career knowing that people’s lives would be saved the next time a hurricane passed through.
I don’t think anybody’s going to argue that there’s hardly a worse place to build a city, really – I had a geology professor who, when I said my family was in the New Orleans area, said, “That city shouldn’t be there!” And he was right.
But after living in Southern California and hearing people on the news saying stuff like, “I’ve had to rebuild four times and I’ll do it again!” after their homes got wiped out by mudslides or fires…well, logic just doesn’t enter into the equation.
My SO thinks New Orleans will just migrate up the river towards Baton Rouge somehow over time. I know what he means, but I’m not sure how to say it so it makes more sense than that.
My BIL & SIL are still at Tulane, they left a short message with my MIL.
Their house was close to the breach, they expect the worse.
As far as New Orleans, What would it take to raise the entire city up 8-10’. Kind of like Seattle did but on a much grander scale.
I think it would be a shame to abandon the city. New Orleans is my favourite city, after all. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop was built sometime before 1772. There’s a lot of great architecture there. Yes, the projects to protect the city that have been undertaken in the last hundred years or so have had the effect of increasing the likelihood of what has happened happening. But if nothing else, I think the French Quarter should be preserved and protected.
This is a horrid horrid event, make no mistake of it. But given the American spirit, I fully expect to see a uniting again. Sure, there isn’t the 9/11 war cry against terrorism, but with a beloved City - one of the cities that defines America’s multi-cultural past and the melding of spirits.
I fully expect to see the city rebuilt. It may take time, but it will be done.