At what point do you write off NOLA?

[Bjorn]

I subscribe to the NYTimes online edition, which has these three stories on New Orleans on top of the front page today:

* Higher Death Toll Seen; Police Ordered to Stop Looters

* Hard New Test for President

* At Stadium, a Haven Quickly Becomes an Ordeal

The ad on the right hand side, just next to the headlines, is this one:

No, I didn't make it up ...

 

[shecky]

New Orleans has flooded before. There's no reason to think that it won't be pumped out and rebuilt this time.[/B]

I suspect there'll be more involved than just pumping out and rebuilding. Who will insure a sub sea level development in the aftermath of Katrina? My guess is it would involve pumping out, constructing landscape, and then rebuilding. And for whom? All the current stranded folks who hadn't the means to leave or a place to go in the first place?

ISTR that NOLA was a marginal Mississippi port these days and it's takes great effort to keep the Mississipi from significantly diverting itself from the city. River-bound industries may decide they'd be better off relocating further upstream at places less vulnerable to such acts of nature. Industries that stay should ultimately be the determining factor of how much gets rebuilt.

It's a fine point of etiquette I'm sure, but it might be best to wait till they've stopped counting bodies before you start counting dollars. [/B]

Why?

 

[BPSCG]

River-bound industries may decide they'd be better off relocating further upstream at places less vulnerable to such acts of nature. Industries that stay should ultimately be the determining factor of how much gets rebuilt.

That's why Houston is a major seaport today, and Galveston is not. The 1902 (I think) hurricane settled that.

 

[jay gw]

Companies won't relocate to New Orleans even if it is rebuilt and will insurance companies issue any new policies there?

 

[BPSCG]

Companies won't relocate to New Orleans even if it is rebuilt

Why shouldn't they? If the cost of renting an office in New Orleans is half the cost of an office in New York, don't you think they'll consider that?

and will insurance companies issue any new policies there?

Sure they will. They'll calculate the value of the property to be insured, calculate the likelihood of having to pay a claim on that property over the life of the policy, and set the insurance rates accordingly. Insurance companies do that every day; that's their job.

 

[drkitten]

Perhaps it is different in the USA then? With an "act of god" clause the insurers wouldn't have to pay out even if the damage was caused by rain or wind. (Or so they would hope.)

Unfortunately (or fortunately), it would be very difficult for the insurers to make a jury believe that a weather event with a defined "season" is unforeseeable or impossible to guard against.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Re: Re: Re: Re: At what point do you write off NOLA?

It's a fine point of etiquette I'm sure, but it might be best to wait till they've stopped counting bodies before you start counting dollars.

That sounds warm and fuzzy, but not very realistic..

Why should everyone who made the decision to build their domiciles above sea level, feel compelled to build a new one, in the same place, for those who didn't?

Talk about counting bodies, when you talk about rebuilding NO, to the state it was before Katrina, you're just preparing another batch.

 

[Jocko]

Unfortunately (or fortunately), it would be very difficult for the insurers to make a jury believe that a weather event with a defined "season" is unforeseeable or impossible to guard against.

Precisely. What, they may well ask, were the levys for if not for flood control? Aesthetics? Warding off sorcery? Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that, if you stood in the right spot and looked in the right direction, you could plainly see cargo ships sailing ABOVE your horizon?

The only act of God I see in the whole sorry mess is that thousands of people stupid enough to ignore a mandatory evacuation order managed to survive to adulthood in the first place.

 

[drkitten]

Precisely. What, they may well ask, were the levys for if not for flood control? Aesthetics? Warding off sorcery?

Tiger prevention.

You will notice that, even in the midst of this, and even with most of the levees no longer being structurally sound, there have been no reported tiger attacks anywhere in Louisiana.

I consider this to be a tribute and a testament to the engineers who have built what may be the world's most effective tiger-proofing system.

 

[BPSCG]

Tiger prevention.

You will notice that, even in the midst of this, and even with most of the levees no longer being structurally sound, there have been no reported tiger attacks anywhere in Louisiana.

I consider this to be a tribute and a testament to the engineers who have built what may be the world's most effective tiger-proofing system.

Not so fast:
[size=large]LSU Tigers devour Indians [/size]

 

[Dan Beaird]

ISTR that NOLA was a marginal Mississippi port these days and it's takes great effort to keep the Mississipi from significantly diverting itself from the city. River-bound industries may decide they'd be better off relocating further upstream at places less vulnerable to such acts of nature. Industries that stay should ultimately be the determining factor of how much gets rebuilt.

Companies tend to let economics make those decisions for them. If a rebuilt New Orleans location is more profitable than some other place then I suspect they will go to New Orleans. Consider that many people own property that is now underwater. I suspect they won't care to just give it all back to the river no matter who tells them to.

Why?

Because people are still dying and there may be people here who have family and friends still missing. Like I said, just a point of etiquette.

 

[DavoMan]

The Man Who Sued God (2001)
Billy Connolly plays Steve Myers, a lawyer who became a fisherman from frustration. When his one piece of property, his boat, is struck by lightning and destroyed he is denied insurance money because it was 'an act of God'. He re-registers as a lawyer and sues the insurance company and the church under the geise of God, defending himself. The accident leads him to a friendship and eventual relationship with a journalist, Anna Redmond (Davis).

 

[Renfield]

Re: Re: At what point do you write off NOLA?

You're talking about abandoning a city at the mouth of a major navigable river? Sure thing, go right ahead....tell you what, I'll make it easy for you...just give all that old used land to me and I'll get rid of it for you ok?

Look at a map and think about why cities tend to be built where rivers meet oceans.

If nature were allowed to take its course, that land wouldn't exist. It would probably be underwater. Of course you need cities in coastal areas like that, but NO is in an incredibly bad location, several feet below sea level and right in hurricane central. It seems a valid question to me.

 

[jay gw]

Why shouldn't they? If the cost of renting an office in New Orleans is half the cost of an office in New York, don't you think they'll consider that?

Is that what happened to Galveston after the hurricane 80 years ago? It's a nothing town today, just a way station.

 

[RandFan]

House Speaker: Rebuilding N.O. doesn't make sense
Thursday, 2:55 p.m.

By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert dropped a bombshell on flood-ravaged New Orleans on Thursday by suggesting that it isn’t sensible to rebuild the city.

"It doesn't make sense to me," Hastert told the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago in editions published today. "And it's a question that certainly we should ask."

Hastert's comments came as Congress cut short its summer recess and raced back to Washington to take up an emergency aid package expected to be $10 billion or more. Details of the legislation are still emerging, but it is expected to target critical items such as buses to evacuate the city, reinforcing existing flood protection and providing food and shelter for a growing population of refugees.

The Illinois Republican’s comments drew an immediate rebuke from Louisiana officials.

“That’s like saying we should shut down Los Angeles because it’s built in an earthquake zone,” former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said. “Or like saying that after the Great Chicago fire of 1871, the U.S. government should have just abandoned the city.”

Hastert said that he supports an emergency bailout, but raised questions about a long-term rebuilding effort. As the most powerful voice in the Republican-controlled House, Hastert is in a position to block any legislation that he opposes.

I hope like hell it is rebuilt.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

I hope like hell it is rebuilt.

Why? Just for sentimental reasons, or to test new construction methods and their ability to withstand future hurricanes ?

How about equipping the Superdome to better handle refugee problems. An improved astroturf perhaps? It was really sad the way they made all those people sit in the stands and wouldn't let them stretch out on the playing field..

Or maybe they should rebuild as an experiment regarding how well people follow evacuation orders?

I'm particularly enjoying how the destruction of New Orleans has impacted gasoline prices and the well being of everyone in this country. Can't wait to try it again or have my son compare the next one to the ' 05 ' disaster..


I'll listen to any others you might have ..


I'm struggling with the urge to start a ' Top Ten ' over in Humor...

 

[RandFan]

Why? Just for sentimental reasons, or to test new construction methods and their ability to withstand future hurricanes ?

Fair question. I think communities have value beyond sentimentality. I think not rebuilding the city will be a blow for us. Proof that we could not protect a city and only value communities based on bottom line. Would I rebuild the city at any price? No.

I hope the price is not too high to justify the value it will provide our nation and the hope and pride it can give us.

But I'm more than willing to reconsider my opinion and listen to counter arguments. Though I doubt my opinion will change much on this one. At what price would we write off LA or NY?

Also please not that I expressed hope and in part for the people who lived there. I would be devestated if my home town were simply destroyed and written off.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

“That’s like saying we should shut down Los Angeles because it’s built in an earthquake zone,” former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said.

Uhhh, no, it's not like saying that at all..

But it is saying, that if they do get destroyed by an earthquake, it might not be such a good idea to rebuild them in the same spot again...

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Also please not that I expressed hope and in part for the people who lived there. I would be devestated if my home town were simply destroyed and written off.

Believe me, there is a part of me that shares those feelings..


But do you believe you would be well served if your town was devasted by a disaster, then rebuilt with no steps taken to drastically reduce the risk of it ever happening again? Untill we start harnessing hurricanes, that risk is not going to go away in New Orleans.

 

[a_unique_person]

It's not just New Orleans. If the AGW research is correct, the whole area will be essentially uninhabitable. According to research, the energy put out by hurricanes is increasing over time. That is destructive force. It doesn't matter even if hurricanes miss, the threat alone that they might hit, and you have to close all business and evacuate for an indeterminate period of time, is enough to write off an area.

I read that New Orleans may survive as, essentially, a tourist theme park. As a major business centre, though, I doubt it.