Seems to me, a major project should be started - something like the moon race
or the Panama canal - more like it - to clean up and direct the flow
once and for all. I know the whole delta lives from the flow, but a central
channel that will drain off he fast snow melt from the central part of the country
as well as a storm that hits the port.

The Corps of Engineers seems to have dropped this ball big time. I rather suspect
(as is typical in AK and LA ...) state politics entered and a baby
channel was put through the city. Should have been pressure release valves that
would pop on the sides (by nature or man) and open flood gates that
skirt the city. Man made pumps are nice for drip and runoff. But a storm
or a flood from rain on snow requires controls that are massive.
From the looks at the channel, I think it was a major major mistake in Engineering
or even a larger on in politics. It should not continue.

Martin
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder



F. George McDuffee wrote:
On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 20:29:02 -0400, Cliff
wrote:


On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 17:42:56 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:


I still have an issue with people
building below sea level

Umm ... it's been SINKING?

Yes, and both the average sea and river levels are rising.

Both inertia and economics have kept New Orleans where it is. It
is an exceptionally convenient location to transfer freight
between ships and river barges, and thus an ideal place of
warehouses, processing plants, etc, all of which require people
to operate.

The problem is that the Mississippi river is not geologically
stable and changes course from time to time. Over many thousands
of years, it has deposited silt to extend a delta about 50 miles
from the actual rock coastline. New Orleans is sited on the edge
of this 50-mile wide thick swamp. Over the last hundred or so
years, the river has deposited additional silt such that the
average height of the river is now about 6 to 8 feet above New
Orleans ground level. With these changes of nature, New Orleans
is now setting on what should be the bed of the Mississippi river
and almost all of it would be underwater at all times without the
levees and dikes.

The American economy requires a major Mississippi river port, but
it is not at all clear that it should be New Orleans, at least in
the present location. Sinking and abandoned port cities due to
river shifts are historically fairly common.

This latest natural disaster and man-made debacle again proves
the wisdom of two sayings:
(1) Its not nice to fool mother nature; and
(2) Put not your trust in Princes.







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