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On Sat, 5 Jan 2013 20:26:13 -0600, "NotMe" wrote:


I suppose if anyone has archived things that far back you could look
but I thought New Orleans was a huge rip off too.
We should have never let them rebuild that city below sea level.
They should have barged in enough dirt to build New Orleans on a hill.

Or 'they' whomever they are could have done it like the Dutch and
engineered a system that works.

It's not like the bean counters and politicians didn't have sufficient
advance notice.


The Dutch have a different situation than what exists in Southern
Louisiana.

They do? I'd be interested in the specifics as friends I went to
engineering school (LSU/Tulane BTW) with spent considerable time over the
pond reviewing what the Dutch did to address their problems.

Basics as I understand both areas: High energy storms, land below sea
level, very similar pumping systems, water has to be pumped up hill. What
have I missed?


The EPA and the Bayou.
We would all be long dead before you ever got permits.
You also are talking about an island, not a shoreline.
Water can come towards NOLA from any direction.
When they had the opportunity (large areas with houses more than 50%
damaged), it would have been a lot cheaper to just fill the bowl.
I am not even sure how FEMA allowed anyone to rebuild below the datum
plane. You sure can't do that in Florida. 50% damage based on the tax
assessment of the building, not including the land, you tear it down,
fill above the datum plan and build or build back on pilings.

You clearly don't understand the dynamics of NOLA, The COE or the local
waterways.

Done right the area can be secure. Bean counters chose not to do what was
necessary and bet on the come (aka a sucker bet). LSU predicted years
before exactly what played out during Katrina. COE/government big wigs
walked out of that conference.

The same computer model (with appropriate adjustments for local conditions)
was used on NYC area and the result predicted exactly what transpired with
Sandy.

BTW I grew up in NOLA (my family has been there since almost the time of the
French settled the area) and ran the river, the waterways and the marshes
since I was old enough to swim.

FWIW less than 10% of NOLA is above the datum plane if by that you are
referring to sea level.