The destruction of New Orleans?

“HEY --- Let's just bulldoze all that crap into the Gulf!”

“Are you supprised about the outcome in New Orleans? The scandals, crime, etc.? I'm not, here are two posts I made almost 2 years ago.





My feelings about the future of New Orleans

“I hope this information is confirmed as soon as possible. The degree of wind damage in parts of western metro New Orleans would support this theory. The storm surge was of high magnitude due to the large size of Katrina. I would certainly agree that Katrina hit the New Orleans area with Cat 3 or less winds. Areas even south of New Orleans did not suffer wind damage that would be charateristic of Cat 4 winds. My cousin who lives in Plaqumines Parish at Carnervon did not even lose one window on his home and he did not board up. His damge was from 7 feet of flood water. The truely scary thing is to imagine Katrina making landfall 30 to 40 miles west of where she came in. Had the eye passed directly over Lake Ponchatrain no areas of the New Orleans metro area would have been left dry. The flooding would have been rapid and trapped many of the people that stayed behind. It took 24 to 48 hours for many areas to flood. Relatives of mine who survived the storm in Saint Bernard Parish said the water came rapidly like a tidal wave due to massive levee loss.
The rebuilding of many of the areas surrounding New Orleans in my opinion is irresponsible and endangered the people that would live there. Furthermore funds which eminate from tax paer dollars would be much better spent in relocation to safer ground. Those areas exist regionally in Louisiana and Mississippi. It is time for geologist and engineers to speak up and rise above political correctness and state the hard truth about New Orleans. In its current condition a strong Tropical Storm or Cat 1 strike would totally flood the city again with at least some loss of life and billions more in damage.

Bateaux


Bateauxdriver
9:47:17 AM
10/04/05





Disgusted with my hometown
“I am totally disgusted with many of the people from my hometown. Many people who were not affected by Katrina or Rita are lining up for aid money that they don't need. Some are actually driving to different towns to apply for aid twice. The great thing about a small town is that there are very few secrets. All one needs to do is talk to the barber or grocery store owner to get the lowdown. The debit cards are showing up all over. Some people were flooded out by the storms and need the help. My parents had a very close call themselves, in fact the water is on the rise again and all we have is some strong east winds due to a massive high pressure ridge on top of us. These low lifes, some actually family members of mine are bragging on the amount of aid money they waited in line for. One cousin actually has 50 cases of MRE's. What the hell are they going to do with that? The way those things lock you up they won't #&%!$ for weeks. I hope FEMA, The Red Cross, etc. wake up soon. They are being swindled and our tax dollars and charitable gifts are not going where they belong. The media has stero typed this kind of activity to the black evacuees from New Orleans but the people I speak of are all white and live in areas with only a minor impact. I guess they can justify their acts within themselves but I hope them just returns on their illgotten money. The fleecing has only begun folks and at elementary levels.



I saw so much good come from people all over the country. I as a lifelong resident of Louisiana thank you for all that you have done. These #&%!$s do not diminish your good works. Good Karma, mercy and love from God and our brotherly thanks are due you. I hope that these that defraud your good works also recieve their due.




From the Bayou Bateauxdriver


last edited: 10/03/05 5:51:47 PM”
last edited: 8/30/07 11:03:34 AM”

“You know I hear the whining of the people like Ray Nagin and I remember a little jewel on the East Coast called Charleston. 1989...CAT 4 hurricane massive destruction...THEN in 1993 the Massive Charleston Naval Base was closed (they voted against Slick they paid the price) yet today Charleston is one of the fastest growing cities on the East Coast...WHAAAAAAT????

Maybe its because South Carolinians didn't sit there and whine "Where my free money" (and there is incredible Poverty in South Carolina) no there were a total of 3...count em 3 FEMA agents in South Carolina following Hugo. Now did we blame Slick for the problems..NOPE the Charlestinians pulled themselves up and moved forward.

Their police did not concentrate on "(I love that term Bateaux) keeping the crime Controlled in Certain areas" now thats really "equal"...no Charleston had a police chief who at the height of the hurricane (during the point where the eye was sweeping over the city) heard officer complaining about looters coming out of buildings. He broke into the radio and said,"THIS IS THE EYE, the SECOND HALF IS COMING, SO SHOOTEM or Knock em on the damn head and leave em for the second half."

Reuben solved crime by ATTACKING it straight on...he busted them he made em FEAR the cops...and crime went down.”

“You guys continue to compare apples to oranges.”

“Flood the place . Put a hurricane fence around it and start a flying fish farm.”

“Rosey...and given your previous accuracy I am sorta doubting if you know the difference between those two.

How is comparing the completely incompetent running of New Orleans not comparable to the operations of Charleston SC?

One was incredibly Corrupt the other is incredibly efficient.”

““The subject is N.O., peeps, not the war. ;-)”

Yet another great observation SS and one more over the fence! You truly are a man of G-d and a god among men. :)”

“how pathetic”

“oops, sorry, we shouldn't be comparing one American city with another. Perhaps we should be comparing NO with some minor kingdom being run by a tin hat dictator and we might be spot on.”

“The subject is N.O., peeps, not the war. ;-)”
StoveStomper
1:40:57 PM
8/30/07

No. The subjection is perspective. Or lack there of.

;)”

“Sadly Hyway you could pretty much compare any City run under liberal socialist dreams to pretty much any third world country.
Same corruption, same people on the bottom getting crumbs and bragging that they are still sticking it to the MAN....(LOL)”

“agreed. maybe you should get some”

“there are towns in Idaho which were subject to periodic flooding from nearby rivers, and at some point "someone" said enough is enough, this town is condemned, and everyone has to move to higher ground. How do you "fix" a place that is below sea level, next to the ocean, next to a huge river, and is still sinking? You don't, you close it and relocate.”

““there are towns in Idaho which were subject to periodic flooding from nearby rivers, and at some point "someone" said enough is enough, this town is condemned, and everyone has to move to higher ground. How do you "fix" a place that is below sea level, next to the ocean, next to a huge river, and is still sinking? You don't, you close it and relocate.”
idaho bob
2:07:17 PM
8/30/07

That is pretty much what is happening by default Bob. New Orleans only has about half of the residents that it had preKatrina. Many of those that can afford it have indeed relocated. The price of insurance and construction will also prevent the total repopulation of New Orleans. It has become a very expensive place to live relative to the average income. In most cases the homes that were destroyed were those of lesser value. I agree that we should rebuild the levee protection but should we also pay to house the residents? You have no right to live where you cannot afford. The best thing for New Orleans would be to build lots of government housing high on some hill in Mississippi. That however is not PC and ain't gonna happen.”

“How do you "fix" a place that is below sea level, next to the ocean, next to a huge river, and is still sinking? You don't, you close it and relocate.”
idaho bob
5:07:17 PM
8/30/07

Ever see a map of the Mississippi flood plain?”

“Thanks, but no thanks, Bateaux.
We have enough poor people of our own. ;-)”

“I'll bet insurance companies are smart enough to evaluate the risk of flooding and price their services accordingly. Maybe that alone will do it. Maybe the feds should make a nice ramp leading out of town to a nearby hill, so people can move their houses out. Or buyout everyone who owns property, and let them go buy land where ever they want.”

“I was called a man ole non-caring troll for suggesting not to blindly send your $$ to NO.

... time passes ...

New Orleans Repeating Deadly Levee Mistakes

Signs are emerging that history is repeating itself in the Big Easy, still healing from Katrina: People have forgotten a lesson from four decades ago and believe once again that the federal government is constructing a levee system they can prosper behind.
In a yearlong review of levee work here, The Associated Press tracked a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations since Katrina, that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood.
Dozens of interviews with engineers, historians, policymakers and flood zone residents confirmed many have not learned from public policy mistakes made after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which set the stage for Katrina; many mistakes are being repeated.
"People forget, but they cannot afford to forget," said Windell Curole, a Louisiana hurricane and levee expert. "If you believe you can't flood, that's when you increase the risk of flooding. In New Orleans, I don't think they talk about the risk."”

“Wha? You mean the government failed at something? Even after being begged to make everything all better? No WAY!”

“A few interesting items about New Orleans.

1. Ten years of reporting on hurricane and flood damage mitigation efforts in and around New Orleans indicates that local and state officials did not use federal money that was available for levee improvements or coastal reinforcement and often did not secure local matching funds that would have generated even more federal funding.

2. In 1995 the New Orleans Levee Board bragged that they had received plenty of money from the federal government to protect the city from hurricanes.

Quote from the Times-Picayune Newspaper:

“In the past four years, the Orleans Levee Board has built up its arsenal. The additional defenses are so critical that Levee Commissioners marched into Congress and brought back almost $60 million to help pay for protection. The most ambitious flood-fighting plan in generations was drafted. An unprecedented $140 million building campaign launched 41 projects.”

3. The Levee Board promised in the same Times-Picayune article that New Orleans would be protected from hurricanes, and all projects would be complete by 1999.

4. In 1996 a legislative auditor denied the levee board the authority to refinance their debt due to violation of bid laws, over spending, and insolvency. THIS is why they were unable to spend the federal matching funds, not because the federal government denied funding. They were near bankruptcy only one year after bragging about their successful procurement of federal funds, and they were blocked from local funding.

5. By 1998, only one tenth of one percent of Louisiana’s construction budget was allocated for levee improvements. State officials spent plenty on pork, but didn’t consider levee projects a priority. I repeat, STATE legislators and STATE appropriators failed to fund the levees.

6. In 1999 the STATE bond commission gave levee funding a level 5 priority, making levee improvements least likely to receive full funding.

7. In 2001 New Orleans residents rejected a tax increase to fund expanding levee projects.

8. In 2002 no new state funding had been allocated to hurricane protection, once again prohibiting them from getting available federal matching funds. This was the result of the state’s unwillingness to fund hurricane protection. It was NOT a result of funding cuts by the Bush administration or Congress.

“The problem is money is real tight in Baton Rouge right now,” state Sen. Francis Heitmeier (D-Algiers) told the Times-Picayune. “We have to do with what we can get.”

9. There is a reason money was “real tight”. In 2000 and 2001 the Bond Commission approved millions of dollars for construction of the Tournament Players Club golf course near Westwego, the relocation of Hickory Avenue in Jefferson (Parish) and historic district development in Westwego. There might also have been more money for life saving levee projects if St. Charles Parish hadn’t requested and received a federal grant for $475,000 to build bike paths on top of its levees. These projects were more important to local officials than protecting New Orleans residents from a devastating hurricane.

10. The levee board did successfully complete one levee project in 2003. They unveiled a restored 1962 Mardi Gras fountain in a four-acre park featuring a new 600-foot plaza between famous Lakeshore Drive and the sea wall. The voters of New Orleans actually approved a tax hike for this project. Unfortunately, like the levees themselves, it probably didn’t survive the cat 4 hurricane Katrina.

Of course it is still Bush's fault.”

“I read somewhere that the authorities haven't returned the guns to their rightful owners, since confiscating them for fear of them being used during the flood. The authorities are Gun Grabbing Commies!!!”

“the glory of sportsmanship.....”

“.
last edited: 8/24/08 5:09:23 AM”

“where is the ACLU when you need 'em?”