Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Say a Prayer

I remember this spring I saw a special on New Orleans on PBS. They were showing how the city dealt with heavy rains and such. It was also shown how the city was very much in trouble should a big hurricane hit it. They explained the levees and the pumps but also noted that much of the reefs (for lack of a better word) off the coast and such had disappeared over the last 30 years that would weaken a hurricane and provide relief from storm surges. New Orleans is essentially in a dry sink with rivers, lakes and the gulf all around it. Should these have flooded, the city was in serious danger as the water had no place to go other than inside of NO. I remember saying to my wife and several co-workers at the time "Well, too bad I never got a chance to visit NO as it's going to wash away, it will be our Venice" as I was so convinced at the time that it was going to happen someday. It happened a lot sooner than I thought it would and I'm a little embarassed by my comments from months ago. This city is absolutely destroyed, in fact, I would be amazed if its not just abandoned. I just cannot see how this city can be rebuilt to even a shadow of it's former self with the issues on flooding that they have. Today, just say a prayer for the people who have lost more than many Americans have in a long time.

3 comments:

Sara said...

It was a beautiful city, and I went there with Jeff and Eileen in the early 90's. We hung out in the French Quarter, walked down Bourbon Street, and ate Beignets at Cafe du Monde. The images coming from the Gulf Coast are nightmarish. It is very sad to see all of that destroyed.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post, Craig. I shall indeed say a prayer. I wonder if you are correct: will NO just be abandoned? Amazing to consider.

Cheesehead Craig said...

If the waters stay in the city for much longer, the homes are going to have to be bulldozed as the wood will just be worthless. I mean, NO was ordered to be abandoned by the mayor. It's going to take weeks to dry the city out, then a couple more to get the sewers and electricity up to snuff. Repairs are going to be insanely slow as materials and labor just won't be available. Add into this that this still doesn't fix the basic problems that the city has with flooding. The economy is destroyed, people are just going to leave the city for elsewhere.