What to do with New Orleans?
I can't imagine all the destruction in New Orleans. So many people displaced, and they are saying that the freaking city won't be functional for months. :shock: Many of those citizens will have to start their lives over elsewhere, 'cuz who can afford to just hang out for a few months or maybe years without working? At some point, rebuilding will be discussed, and I wonder what they will do. If it was a partial destruction, I could see just rebuilding right where everything already is. Considering the amount of damage, though, maybe it's best to not rebuild a city below sea level. Maybe they could take all the debris from Mississippi and dump it into New Orleans to build it up and then rebuild New Orleans above sea level? I don't know what the answer is, but it seems like a waste of state and federal tax dollars to rebuild a city in such a precarious position. I can't freaking believe that some little category 1 hurricane suddenly ballooned into this utter devastation. :shock: :? :sad:

Re: New Orleans
Rebuilding the city is just asking God to send another Hurricane to whipe it off the map again. Having such a big city so close to the Gulf below sea level wasn't such a bright idea to begin with, it was only a matter of time something like this was going to happen. I say let the city lay in ruins and relocate the people somewhere else... somewhere high and dry.

I think the city's going to be rebuilt. I doubt if there's any real question about that. If cities weren't rebuilt because they're in the path of storms or earthquakes, Miami and San Francisco would be plowed under. Not to mention that there isn't really a good place to relocate all those millions of people. Texans are already complaining about how their local economies will be affected by the influx of all these people needing services - and jobs. Brad, I don't have any answers as to how to do it though. I just heard this morning what a toxic dump New Orleans has become with all the chemicals, gasoline, and bad things from decaying animals and humans floating around in that water. The Dutch have lived for centuries surrounded by water and have apparently developed technology that seems to work. I also can't help but believe that American engineeers also know how to make it work. The problem, as is the problem for a whole lot of issues that are hard to solve, is $$$. One other thing that occurs to me is that there are now so many people out of work in New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf area. Wouldn't it help kill two birds with one stone by giving a paycheck to the people who were the most affected by this devastation to help with the clean up and rebuilding of their home state? (Same for Mississipi and Alabama.) Makes sense to me. And certainly more sense than relocating hundreds of thousands of people to Pittsburgh or somewhere where there already aren't enough jobs to go around!

When I was a kid in Minnesota we used to drive along the Mississippi River whenever we visited one of my uncles. Almost every year there were homes along the river that would get flooded in the spring. I could never understand why those people kept coming back and no one could give me a satisfactory answer other than "For them, it's home." With the level of devastation in New Orleans, I'm sure that a certain portion of the residents will decide it is not worth coming back and settle themselves elsewhere. Those who have lost loved ones, in addition to their homes and possessions, may decide that the city now holds too many bad memories. Others, who have a strong love for what New Orleans used to be and represent, will undoubtedly want to return. Even though I am certain that New Orleans will be rebuilt (and I agree that it's pretty dumb to want to live in a below-sea-level city after what has just happened to it), I doubt that it can be returned to what it once was. The new New Orleans will be a different city and the residents will certainly have a different outlook.

It sounds like people want to return to the area so all we can do is rebuild the city with safer structures and work on getting the levee constructed so that future storms won't cause as much devastation. Maybe they should make people in that area pay higher property taxes to build a fund for hurricane relief.

I seen interviews of people in Houston and I think Philadelphia (?) where the evacuee said that was now their home, that they would not return to New Orleans. I'm sure not everyone will feel the same, and those people may change their mind with the passage of time. The Dutch do have extensive dikes and have a lot (25%-50% I think) of land below sea level. However, their current network of dikes started in the 50's and was finished in 2002. :shock: I also wonder how their dikes would stand up to a Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane. They don't really get hurricanes there, but storms that occasionally have hurricane strength winds. Sometimes, mankind just can't overcome nature. Whatever happens, though, I agree that money will be the main issue. I kinda like Pika's idea about paying larger property taxes if you're gonna live in such a high risk area; that way, somebody in Montana doesn't have to subsidize some guy living below sea level in Montana. Still, there is a lot of shipping that passes through New Orleans, and the workers have to live somewhere, so I figure there will be some rebuilding at least. Tara, your idea about employing the residents to rebuild their city is good, too, at least as long as the rebuilding takes. Given the level of poverty in New Orleans in particular, I would think they would be more than eager to have that work.

The point is the poor may not be able to return there but people who are willing to risk living in that area should pay for it rather than having the rest of the nation have to bail them out.

I lived in New Orleans during my first marriage. The father of my two children lives there, or did. I cannot find out anything about him. It's so sad you take for granted that you will "get in touch" and then find there may never be the opportunity. A lot of people from there would never ever leave. I know my ex wouldn't. Unfortunately so many had the mindset that they made it through Camille, so they could make it through anything. So sad. My ex works for the Corp of Engineers, so I feel relatively sure he had the heads up and is okay. I keep them ALL in my prayers daily.

I used to go out with a man who lived at the time in Metarie (sp?), Louisiana, which is right outside New Orleans on Lake Ponchetrain (sp?). Everytime they mentioned Matarie, I thought of him and wondered if he still lived there and how he was doing.

Tara, it's Metarie, and that is where I lived when I was married. It's not far from Kenner where you see all the news at the airport.

Re: Pets & People
Oprah annoys me. That's all I have to say about her. I can understand not letting owners take their pets with them to the shelters. But I can also understand the owners not wanting to leave without their pets. It's definitely a sticky situation to be put in. Personally, though, I'd chose a safe, toxic-free shelter to live inover my pet. Of course, I don't get all that emotionally attached to my pets. It's just the way I am.