Quote:
I'm not that sorry to see the punishment of the hubris, arrogance and downright stupidity of building a city in a pit at the intersection of three major bodies of water in an area that routinely gets hurricanes.

You call it punishment. I call it building a city in a major port with access to a river that runs straight north into the heart of the country. That's why NO was built in the first place. Trade. Oil comes in...goods and textiles go out. Don't blame people for being there...if it weren't for them...you're goods would cost even more than they do now.
Also, you're talking about a city that's so buried in culture, that it's hard to let go of it. Some of these families have been there for hundreds of years. Where are your people from? Can you trace back your roots and say that you were born in the same house your great-grandfather was born in? Would you care to? You'll have to forgive me if I can understand the southern mentality of family. No, I don't approve of everything that's happened... and I'd be leaving as soon as possible if I were in that situation. (I also wouldn't be just sitting there hoping that the government would "save" me.) But, I can understand why some of this has happened. I can at least understand how hard it is to leave the only place you've ever known. And that your family has revolved around for hundreds of years.

I agree that NO should have reinforced the levees decades ago. With today's technology, they should have made it so that the city could (for the most part) withstand a Cat5.

This is from the National Geographic News website.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0902_050902_katrina_levees.html

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been building levees along the Mississippi River since the late 1800s. The artificial, reenforced soil embankments are designed to curb periodic and destructive floods.

But determining the level of protection needed versus what Congress and the public are willing to pay for isn't often easy.

Acceptable risks must be weighed, including the statistical likelihood of catastrophic events and the possible consequences if they do occur, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials.


Before you bash the system and call it punishment, look at every angle. This effects you as well as the survivors of this hurricane. Some of the refineries that supplies gas, are highly damaged. That same gas that NO (built in a pit) ships up river to the Northern States. Major cities are built on the coasts of this country so that we can import and export the goods that the country needs. I'm curious as to where you think NO should have been built. (remember: it was built with people using horses and carts before there were drills and nail guns)
That's enough of my rant. Sorry to have gone off like this.

Get ready ladies and gents...this is only going to get worse.

Wyn