I’ve been to N’Awlins several times in the last decade or so. It’s one of my favorite cities. Part of its charm, I think, is that you can feel the Mississippi River’s omnipotence no matter where you are. Even as you walk along the streets, with the water far from view, you know it’s there. I just read a fascinating – and scary – article in the NYTimes about the problems the city is having trying to prepare for a possible storm surge. Good reading if you’re interested.
Nothing’s Easy for New Orleans Flood Control
A flood wall built by the Army Corps of Engineers to hold back a cresting river – which on normal days moves more than 300,000 cubic feet of water a second past the city at an average depth of 90 feet – raised the levee to a uniform height of 25 feet above sea level, or 10 feet above the average annual high water surface level of the river, when water can rush by at the rate of one million cubic feet of water, or more, a second.
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The city would be trapped inside the levees, steeped in a worsening “witches’ brew” of pollutants like sewage, landfill waste, chemicals and the bodies of drowned humans and animals.
Bourbon Street could remain under 10 feet of water, with water swirling above two-story houses in neighborhoods closer to the lake.
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The American Red Cross … has declared it no longer will provide hurricane shelters … saying that placing staff there in a killer storm will represent too much risk for its employees …
As someone who has been to New Orleans and is going again this July, it IS scary to think that if one thing goes wrong the city will be drowned out so completely. I’ll definitely ask for the top floor of my hotel….
I was there a few weeks ago, and always shuddered when driving past the “hurricane Evacuation Route” signs along some of the main roads. They certainly do not inspire confidence. Still, it’s a wonderful city, but just not when the water begins to rise.
Come visit us now… bring your boat.
poopoo
poopoo
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