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9/3/08

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Coyotemike

Coyotemike

Kearney, NE
May 2006

AUG 23, 2008 11:37 AM

New Orleans is going to be wiped out someday, probably not too far in the future. Why?

In a yearlong review of levee work here, The Associated Press has 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.



And yet, some of the people of N.O. are buying into the official crap that everything is going to be alright.

Tyrone Marshall, a 48-year-old bread vendor, is one person who doesn't believe he's going to flood again.

"They've heightened the levees. They're raised up. It makes me feel safe," he said as he toiled outside his home in hard-hit Gentilly, a formerly flooded property refashioned into a California-style bungalow.

Geneva Stanford, a 76-year-old health care worker, is a believer, too. She lives in a trim and tidy prefabricated house in the Lower 9th Ward, 200 feet from a rebuilt floodwall that Katrina broke.

"This wall here wasn't there when we had the flood," Stanford said, radiant in a bright kanga-style dress. "When I look at it now, I say maybe if we had had it up it there then, maybe we wouldn't have flooded."



And the reality?

When and if the Army Corps of Engineers finishes $14.8 billion in post-Katrina work, the city will have limited protection _ what are defined as 100-year levees.

This does not mean they'd stand up to storms for a century. Under the 100-year standard, in fact, experts say that every house being rebuilt in New Orleans has a 26 percent chance of being flooded again over a 30-year mortgage; and every child born in New Orleans would have nearly a 60 percent chance of seeing a major flood in his or her life.



Translation: The levee system will fail.

Tallboy66

Tallboy66

USA
January 2005

AUG 23, 2008 11:46 AM

The destructive power of water is incredible but if she thinks it will hold then it will ,just remember to cry for help when it doesn't. eeek

stockula

stockula

Anchorage, AK
May 2003

AUG 23, 2008 12:02 PM

Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?

Shalome

Shalome

MODERATOR

Los Angeles, CA

AUG 23, 2008 12:10 PM

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Right, because New Orleans is known for Katrina-level flooding and destruction. Like, it's happened so many times in the city's history that anyone who believes it's unlikely to happen is just an idiot.

Oh, wait...

Chainlink

Chainlink

Christmas Island
August 2005

AUG 23, 2008 01:54 PM

Shalome said:

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Right, because New Orleans is known for Katrina-level flooding and destruction. Like, it's happened so many times in the city's history that anyone who believes it's unlikely to happen is just an idiot.

Oh, wait...



Um, but yeah, they do have a history. They hadn't even completed the fortifications to protected them from catastrophic flooding that President Johnson ordered in 1965 after hurricane Besty totaled the area in very much the same fashion as Katrina.

Many people in New Orleans, obviously I guess, were survivors of that storm and flood, and the article makes repeated comparisons to the mentality of rationalizations that many are going through now. It's kind of sad really.

But we're only human and realistically there is only so much you can do to protect yourself from Mother Nature at her worst. Very nearly any place you live has some risk associated.
I think it's pretty natural that at some point people just say," I've done my best to be prepared, the rest is up to fate". Frequently, I think that leads into a false sense of security and often some carelessness.

Believing that it's unlikely to ever happen again would be pretty idiotic. Believing that the protection and preparedness, both on a personal level and government level, is going to be adequate to protect you from anything Mother Nature throws at you is probably less idiotic, but not by a whole lot.

bigeasybri

bigeasybri

Las Vegas, NV
August 2005

AUG 24, 2008 01:39 AM

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Are you familiar with the term megathrust earthquake?

Shalome

Shalome

MODERATOR

Los Angeles, CA

AUG 24, 2008 05:23 AM

bigeasybri said:

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Are you familiar with the term megathrust earthquake?



An 8.4 earthquake in Anchorage? Bullshit, that could never happen. Those sorts of things only happen to we naive liberal So Cal dwellers.

Coyotemike

Coyotemike

Kearney, NE
May 2006

AUG 24, 2008 08:29 AM

bigeasybri said:

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Are you familiar with the term megathrust earthquake?



Well, if we're going to go that way, how about a comparison between Tornado Alley and The Bible Belt . . . you know, the center of right wing conservatism. Who'd think that such right thinking folks would live in areas where the air itself can rise up and kill them? eeek

Chainlink

Chainlink

Christmas Island
August 2005

AUG 24, 2008 10:14 AM


Don't forget NYC
Wouldn't it be some kind of fateful irony if New York slipped into the ocean before California, Florida, or New Orleans ?

MisterEnrolled

MisterEnrolled

Birmingham, AL
October 2005

AUG 24, 2008 07:46 PM

coyotemike said:

bigeasybri said:

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Are you familiar with the term megathrust earthquake?



Well, if we're going to go that way, how about a comparison between Tornado Alley and The Bible Belt . . . you know, the center of right wing conservatism. Who'd think that such right thinking folks would live in areas where the air itself can rise up and kill them? eeek



People like to live close to God.

Coyotemike

Coyotemike

Kearney, NE
May 2006

AUG 24, 2008 08:27 PM

MisterLinguist said:

coyotemike said:

bigeasybri said:

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Are you familiar with the term megathrust earthquake?



Well, if we're going to go that way, how about a comparison between Tornado Alley and The Bible Belt . . . you know, the center of right wing conservatism. Who'd think that such right thinking folks would live in areas where the air itself can rise up and kill them? eeek



People like to live close to God.



Jesus lives in tornados? Damn, no wonder I couldn't find him.

MisterEnrolled

MisterEnrolled

Birmingham, AL
October 2005

AUG 24, 2008 09:27 PM

coyotemike said:

MisterLinguist said:

coyotemike said:

bigeasybri said:

stockula said:
Who would think living in a city that is both below sea level and in a hurricane zone would be risky?



Are you familiar with the term megathrust earthquake?



Well, if we're going to go that way, how about a comparison between Tornado Alley and The Bible Belt . . . you know, the center of right wing conservatism. Who'd think that such right thinking folks would live in areas where the air itself can rise up and kill them? eeek



People like to live close to God.



Jesus lives in tornados? Damn, no wonder I couldn't find him.



I didn't say Jesus. Jesus is the peaceful side of the big christian coin. God is the wrathful, angry, and malevolent side.

Coyotemike

Coyotemike

Kearney, NE
May 2006

AUG 24, 2008 09:46 PM

MisterLinguist said:

I didn't say Jesus. Jesus is the peaceful side of the big christian coin. God is the wrathful, angry, and malevolent side.



One of the things I've never quite gotten about those folks who claim natural disasters as "God's Wrath", why would God need a hurricane/tornado/earthquake just to off a few humans? We're pretty fragile, break pretty easily. Besides, should God just be able to think the life out of us? Why go through all the trouble?

Chainlink

Chainlink

Christmas Island
August 2005

AUG 24, 2008 09:49 PM

coyotemike said:

MisterLinguist said:

I didn't say Jesus. Jesus is the peaceful side of the big christian coin. God is the wrathful, angry, and malevolent side.



One of the things I've never quite gotten about those folks who claim natural disasters as "God's Wrath", why would God need a hurricane/tornado/earthquake just to off a few humans? We're pretty fragile, break pretty easily. Besides, should God just be able to think the life out of us? Why go through all the trouble?



Cause, he's a jealous God, and he's tryin to impress the Ladiezz

MisterEnrolled

MisterEnrolled

Birmingham, AL
October 2005

AUG 24, 2008 09:51 PM

Whatever God it is seen as, a hurricane enacts change. Gods tend to be far less minimalist than modern human beings, and as such like a lot of dramatic entrances and storms and dramatic wakes.

Take Oya for example. She enacts great change through the use of strong winds and storms, because without change there wouldn't really be a world worth living in.

Squire

Squire

I'm lost
November 2003

AUG 24, 2008 10:14 PM

coyotemike said:

MisterLinguist said:

I didn't say Jesus. Jesus is the peaceful side of the big christian coin. God is the wrathful, angry, and malevolent side.



One of the things I've never quite gotten about those folks who claim natural disasters as "God's Wrath", why would God need a hurricane/tornado/earthquake just to off a few humans? We're pretty fragile, break pretty easily. Besides, should God just be able to think the life out of us? Why go through all the trouble?



I think it has something to do with insurance fraud. God is looking to clean up.

TheFuckOffKid

TheFuckOffKid

NEWSWIRE

Australia

AUG 24, 2008 10:37 PM

Squire said:

coyotemike said:

MisterLinguist said:

I didn't say Jesus. Jesus is the peaceful side of the big christian coin. God is the wrathful, angry, and malevolent side.



One of the things I've never quite gotten about those folks who claim natural disasters as "God's Wrath", why would God need a hurricane/tornado/earthquake just to off a few humans? We're pretty fragile, break pretty easily. Besides, should God just be able to think the life out of us? Why go through all the trouble?



I think it has something to do with insurance fraud. God is looking to clean up.


Nah, if God wanted to clean up, he'd just check out tomorrow's Lotto numbers.

This is more like burning ants with a magnifying glass.

scylis

scylis

Seattle, WA
November 2004

AUG 24, 2008 10:43 PM

TheFuckOffKid said:

Squire said:

coyotemike said:

MisterLinguist said:

I didn't say Jesus. Jesus is the peaceful side of the big christian coin. God is the wrathful, angry, and malevolent side.



One of the things I've never quite gotten about those folks who claim natural disasters as "God's Wrath", why would God need a hurricane/tornado/earthquake just to off a few humans? We're pretty fragile, break pretty easily. Besides, should God just be able to think the life out of us? Why go through all the trouble?



I think it has something to do with insurance fraud. God is looking to clean up.


Nah, if God wanted to clean up, he'd just check out tomorrow's Lotto numbers.

This is more like burning ants with a magnifying glass.



there's always the "giant ball of fire and death from the skies" option. Michael Bay-style.

God's an Aerosmith fan.

Rappaccini

Rappaccini

Burnt Cabins, PA
February 2004

AUG 25, 2008 08:10 AM

scylis said:

God's an Aerosmith fan.



The great Aerosmith of the 70s? Or the suck-ass Aerosmith of the 80s and 90s?

Subrosa

Subrosa

San Francisco, CA
July 2004

AUG 25, 2008 08:31 AM

DeadBilly said:

scylis said:

God's an Aerosmith fan.



The great Aerosmith of the 70s? Or the suck-ass Aerosmith of the 80s and 90s?



Seriously. If that's the case, then God should have given it up after Janie's Got a Gun.

mydogfarted

mydogfarted

Waldwick, NJ
June 2003

AUG 25, 2008 09:08 AM

Chainlink said:

Don't forget NYC
Wouldn't it be some kind of fateful irony if New York slipped into the ocean before California, Florida, or New Orleans ?



It would be awesome for us in NJ who have always wanted beachfront property.

MisterEnrolled

MisterEnrolled

Birmingham, AL
October 2005

AUG 25, 2008 09:17 AM

mydogfarted said:

Chainlink said:

Don't forget NYC
Wouldn't it be some kind of fateful irony if New York slipped into the ocean before California, Florida, or New Orleans ?



It would be awesome for us in NJ who have always wanted beachfront property.



Surfin' USA!