Thanks to a commenter over at Wretchard’s place, I have found a piece online that explores the long-term loss of New Orleans on the economy and very fabric of the entire United States. And it’s chilling.
I’d never thought it through before, but New Orleans really is the United States’ Achilles Heel — in many ways, it can be argued that it is more important to the country than New York, or Washington, DC, or Los Angeles.
It’s a chilling examination, and it really, really needs to be studied and considered.
It is vital that a port be located in New Orleans.
It is not vital that a city be located there.
Tell that to all the people who lived there asshole. To bad there weren’t more white people stranded in Luoisiana because then maybe GW would have decided that it would be more prudent to act quickly instead of shilling at the ranch as well as playing the “geetar” for a photo op. He looks more like a scumbag with that guitar in his hands than when he was reading My Pet Goat.
“Tell that to all the people who lived there asshole.”
Racist and potty-mouthed to boot.
Take your talking-points elsewhere, whocares, we’re not buying.
Tob
This might be a good time to look at railroad stocks, if the port is going to be closed for a while they’ll have to reroute a lot grain through the Great Lakes and then the St. Lawrence River. If only 25 or so of us buy 2 or 3 shares each we should be able raise enough to money to buy whocares a one-way ticket to Lala Land so he can complete his journey.
whocares: “To bad there weren’t more white people stranded in Luoisiana because then maybe GW would have decided that it would be more prudent to act quickly instead of shilling at the ranch as well as playing the “geetar” for a photo op.”
The evacuation of NO only occured when it did due to a call from Bush to the govenor of LA on Aug. 28th. Until that time, the may of NO and the governor of LA had been equivocating, waffling, and in summary, failing, at being leaders. Hell, the mayor of NO did not even follow his own hurricane plan and deploy the hundreds of buses they have available (which are now under four feet of water) to evacuation points.
It is particulary sad to see simpering pathetic hatred like yours displayed at a time like this. I am ashamed of the segment of America populated by the likes of you.
I’ll have to agree with Jake at the risk of having the race card thrown in my face and cheap shots take at Bush.
If we rebuild more than what is necessary because of the geography of New Orleans, we will be creating this opportunity again.
I know every part of the country is at risk for something. But there’s a difference between the risk of being hit by a car playing on the sidewalk and the risk of being hit by a car playing on the freeway. N.O. is on a freeway.
The cost of a cat 5 proof hurricane levee system could also be used for education and anti-poverty programs as well. I guess some people want to maintain the status quo instead.
in many ways, it can be argued that it is more important to the country than New York, or Washington, DC, or Los Angeles.
How? Perhaps L.A., but not NY or Wash.DC. It is only the fifth largest port we have.
While I will say that the gulf oil production area is an achilles heel (including southeast texas, btw), N.O. itself is not that important in the grand scheme of things.
These disasters help the economy. 150 billion Gov. spending and rebuilding and rejuvenating will take care of overall short term hit.
The problem is where to we go to have sex on the street now?
I worry about all the customers that haven’t been able to have child sex in Thailand as well since the Tsunami.
Here is a link to the story on Aug. 28th where the govenor herself admits that Bush called and requested an immediate evacuation.
Here is the key quote: “Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.”
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1125239940201382.xml&storylist=louisiana
Also, most people do not understand, (and those like whocares are too hate-filled and stupid to take the time to even try to understand) that disasters such as this are managed by state and local authorities. Federal resources are requested, managed, and directed by local authorities. Face it, LA has historically been home to the most corrupt and incompent governments in America and these are the times when it becomes very, very apparent. Need proof? Look to the other states hit by Katrina. Look to Florida last year when Ivan hit.
Nothing can stop a hurricane, but competent execution of well designed response plans can mitigate the loss of human life. Such is clearly not the case in NO. But it is in Biloxi.
And in fairness to them, this storm is unprecedented. And folks, believe it or not, the government is not supernatural and not capable of fixing all things at a moments notice. There are and will be natural (or man-made in the case of terrorism) disasters that will make us humans – in spite of all our plans, money, and high-mindedness, look like powerless, frail, pathetic, quibbling fools. We need to understand that we are subject to the whims of far more powerful natural forces.
RE: Jake’s post (September 3, 2005 11:56 AM)
It is vital that a port be located in New Orleans.
It is not vital that a city be located there.
The best synopsis of the debate so far.
You’ve winnowed everything down to the fundamental truth. Hopefully the powers that be, and those who put those powers in place, will recognize this kernel of wisdom and respond appropriately for the long term. It’s a seed that should be dispersed into every major metropolitan area and cultivated as necessary. Responsible leaders should understand the natural pressures on their cities and learn from this catastrophe. Likewise, the local citizens/businesses need be prepared to pony up the resources to enhance the required infrastructure the politicians and advisors report are needed.
Ounce of prevention versus pound of cure… the nation is now weighing out the pounds.
Well, let’s see where to start. First New Orleans isn’t the 5th largest port we have. The Port of Southern LA is the 5th largest in the world (the biggest in the US). It is also the best port-to-rail hub in the US by far. Hmmm.. a port without a city. That’s another way of saying a port without workers. Technology hasn’t gone that far yet. When you have a port, there will be a city. And unless you want communist central planning, you can’t exactly limit its size from Washington.
It’s short sighted to live in a city that’s mostly below sea level. It’s really asking for trouble if that city is located in the world’s most active hurricane playground and also has the largest river on the continent running through it. It’s down right stupid to ignore mandatory evacuation orders with a category 5 hurricane dead on target for such a city. It’s beyond absurdity to then shoot at rescuers in the aftermath of that hurricane. Now that group of people is saying that the rescue was delayed because of their race. I submit that all one needs to do is consider the source of such allegations and then dismiss them as just more stupidity.
However, unlike those accusing the rest of the nation of being racist, I’m not claiming there’s any link between those people’s race and stupidity. I understand that many are trapped by economic forces.
Now the real test for this nation will be to see if we are collectively stupid enough to rebuild NO without first making it category 5 hurricane proof. If that’s not possible, then the city must be moved. We should also look at the rest of the Gulf cost and impose zoning laws that prevent building susceptible structures in areas where they are subject to a category 5 hurricane storm surge. You can bet there will be lots of objections and it will cost a bunch of money, but it’s the smart thing to do and there’s no better time to do it.
Jake,
How do you expect to run a port without a city to house & support it? You really think that stevadores are going to drive an hour down from Baton Rouge to work the docks in New Orleans? The city is there because of the port.
Barry Dauphin and Cybrludite,
I’m neither suggesting remote controlled cyborgs nor unreasonable travel distances.
The city will exist to some degree and the debate needs to be to what extent. Rebuilding to what was is an irresponsible use of resources; nature has illustrated the folly of our arrogance. A port is needed and will be resurrected. The infrastructure to support the minimum population required should be localized to a considerably smaller sphere and treated more like an industrial complex. Over-engineer it, reinforce it, and turn it into a fortress above sea level; however, do not encourage ancillary and non-vital industry to such vulnerable sites. Move them to the periphery on higher ground away from flood plains. Enhance traffic conduits to and from portal nerve centers where the heavy work is done and shift the services industry inland.
I’m not a civil engineer so these top of the head suggestions are but global assumptions without those devilish details; however, rebuilding in the same mode because of a desire to capture the historic essence of the city is too risky and a potentially terrible waste of resources. Just because mistakes regarding floodplain development have been done in the past does not mean they should be perpetuated. Now that vast amounts of national tax monies are being diverted to repair the mess, the nation should have some say as to how they are allocated. Listen to the national and local civil engineers who understand these disaster prevention principles and do not disregard their insight. For example, do not let developers and politicians divert attention from what is fundamentally necessary to resurrect the contemporaneously fashionable. Rebuilding apartment complexes, restaurants, homes, and tourist attractions on the water’s edge are foolish and do not deserve repeated bailouts via tax monies. Restricting construction access to such locales would go a long way to preserving both assets and life. To ignore such obvious risks endangers too many lives and economies. These are the topics that need to be broached on grand scale. In essence the very paradigm of catastrophic defense planning needs to be revisited and very long-term economic cost-benefit analyses projections presented… bluntly and honestly.
A storm that comes along once in a millenium and the city has to be moved? Hmmm.
May be a good time to look into NO real estate.
Yikes, that is chilling. It will be interesting to see what happens.
There’s a public-service message board/support group for anyone affected by Katrina. http://www.katrinatalk.org Come over and give some support and get some, too.
AnonymousDrivel,
But what you are suggesting is sounding very close to central planning, AKA Soviet Union circa 1930s.
Your cost benefit analysis has to take into consideration the economic benefits to the country of this port complex and whether the Feds have histrocially invested enough money into the area to make sure the port isn’t shut down. Because of the necessity to the country of the port complex, it is much more complicated than simply not building in risky areas. Things happen at the local level whether we like it or not. We have to find the right balance between local control and the national interest. Not easy for the Big Easy.
Now we could declare the New Orleans area to be a Federal District. Perhaps then it will run as effectively as say……Washington, DC.
Watching this I have been as mad as anyone at the Mayor, Gov and our President. Now that I am seeing more of the relief come in it is becoming more obvious what has occurred. Alabama and Mississippi were prepared and have responded as well as could be expected based on the amount of damage. Louisiana did not prepare, did not evacuate, did not step up and have its elected officials show leadership and reach out for Federal help when it was initially available. Any one that followed this and knows about disaster preparedness knows that President Bush declared a Natural Diaster days prior to the storm making landfall. The Governor did not reach out and ask for the available help until days after the storm.
With all the help we see being given by the great state of Texas could anyone with half a brain not figure out that President Bush has (behind the scenes) made sure that his home state stepped up and demonstrated all the qualities that Louisiania officials have failed to show.
The Mayor, Governor and State Director of Homeland Security should be removed from office effective today and some thought should be given to criminal proceedings.
RE: Barry Dauphin’s post (September 3, 2005 08:07 PM)
But what you are suggesting is sounding very close to central planning, AKA Soviet Union circa 1930s.
and
Now we could declare the New Orleans area to be a Federal District. Perhaps then it will run as effectively as say……Washington, DC.
Yikes! Two very scary thoughts indeed and (hyperbole alert) I’m not sure which is worse; but your comments that “[w]e have to find the right balance between local control and the national interest. Not easy for the Big Easy” ring true.
As in just about everything, balance is key and, fundamentally, I’m more of a State’s Rights advocate over the central planning paradigm of Federalism. However, sometimes a more centrally controlled infrastructure actually works. While local authority certainly needs the leeway to operate day-to-day, a unifying theme of coordination maintains integrity of the whole. Federal disbursements are often tied to a carrot-and-stick approach and this seems to me to be one of those natural fits. This may not be the best example but consider highway funds. States are nudged, cajoled, and coerced to perform “central planning” to reap the rewards of road monies. States need not comply but it remains in their best interest to do so… usually. National parks also operate under central planning though this is not a particularly good example either. The point is that such systems of operation are implemented in this country and they are appropriate under certain conditions.
It seems that such an approach would be appropriate on port city (floodplain) development as well. Cities participating voluntarily would receive some compensation or subsidy for coordinating a more global approach. Likewise, cities not participating, again voluntarily, would be denied such funding. They would still be free to exercise more local control and less Federal funding, but business and industry would be more aware of the financial support underlying the infrastructure and reinvest appropriately to ensure that their operations remain as viable as possible. As industry moves, so moves the populace and all of the other industries to support habitation.
I don’t know that it would be unfair to define certain cities as critically important nerve centers worthy of a “national security” node tag, but I’ve never thought about it before. Maybe it’s time such designations be considered despite the risks of preferred versus non-preferred status and the “class” designations that wil inevitably follow.
Whatever the track taken by those tasked to resurrect New Orleans (and other cities), we must take into account the insurance required to protect the asset. By insurance I mean cautious, conservative design and the ability to control damage and reconstruct quickly, effectively, and safely. We will always have limited resources to finance and sustain our economy. Knowingly dumping those limited resources into a perpetual hole is irresponsible – changes must be made though governments often don’t feel those pressures since it is tax money from far away places that races in to rebuild after a catastrophe. It may sound callous to define all of this in monetary and not organic terms, but the Gulf could be hit again next week. Or in 50 years. I don’t believe gambling with such exhorbitantly expensive development is wise. Neither do I believe that humanity will change its behavior should a similar event transpire in a rebuilt waterfront population center. If we are truly concerned about life and resources, we should redefine where we will or will not allow development. Replacing the structures and all of its inhabitants in a pit with mountains of water all around will mean that we repeat this again… that you can count on.
You people are infuriating. I’m from New Orleans, and I’m very disappointed in the lack of support I see from some of you commenters. Play on the freeway? How about a real freeway, built right on a fault line? I don’t remember hearing anyone suggest that we not rebuild San Francisco. Fact is, New Orleans is neither valued nor understood by most of this country, or even a large art of our own state.
New Orleans protection systems can handle a torrential amount of water. I remember seeing the horrible flooding of the Mississippi North of here years ago and watching the news reports every night as those poor people sandbagged for days, flooded anyway, and then waited and waited for the sun to shine and the water to dry. I wondered at the time, “Why don’t they have pumps?” New Orleans has huge problems and the city’s management (and state’s for that matter) is pathetic, but no infrastructure has ever been prepared to handle an event like this one. Get some perspective.
AnonymousDrivel:
While I almost always enjoy your analysis’ of the various topics of conversation here, (and almost always agree with you) you’ve lost me on this one.
The Ports of Southern Louisiana and New Orleans are simply too important to this nation’s economy to be allowed to wither away the way the steel industry in my home city of Pittsburgh did. And without a large enough and skilled enough workforce that’s exactly what will happen. Not having those ports would not only drive up the cost of nearly everything we import through them, it would do the same to nearly everything we export through them as well. Do we really need to put that kind of ball-and-chain on our economy?
Well, let’s see where to start. First New Orleans isn’t the 5th largest port we have. The Port of Southern LA is the 5th largest in the world (the biggest in the US).
Sorry, but the New Orleans/South La. port ranking is confusing. Check out this link: http://www.aapa-ports.org/members/advisory/html/2000/advisory34-27.htm
Now, those numbers are from 1999, but you can see that the ranking of N.O./S.L. varies by which measurement is used. For instance, L.A.’s port was ranked 6th in terms of imports total volume, and ranked low in terms of cargo value as well.
I also notice that the “port of southern louisiana” and “port of New Orleans” are listed separately in the list, so you’re still counting apples and oranges.
Either way, a port without a city would not be unlike the coal-mining towns of West Virginia, where the companies could pay for the town. There is also the possibility of high-speed rail being used to supply the port with workers.
just some suggestions.
OK, I’ll be the first to state that I just don’t care…anymore. What happened is not my fault; nobody asked for my opinion about how to protect NO. I did not vote for that dumb-fuck for a mayor or that asshole for a governor. And I am thoroughly sick of the racism eminating from black folk everywhere. They got the “leadership” they wanted….and deserve. If they don’t think I’ve done enough to help them yet, just wait.
It is vital that a port be located in New Orleans.
Why there, and not at, say, Baton Rouge? Genuinely curious here as to why that particular site is essential.
RE: fatman’s post (September 4, 2005 01:46 AM)
While I almost always enjoy your analysis’ of the various topics of conversation here…
Almost? Why, I’m insulted. 😉
The Ports of Southern Louisiana and New Orleans are simply too important to this nation’s economy to be allowed to wither away the way the steel industry in my home city of Pittsburgh did. And without a large enough and skilled enough workforce that’s exactly what will happen.
Oh, I’m not advocating abandoning them. I’m suggesting that the industrial component (and its economic engine) be prioritized and strengthened and that it (NO specifically and port cities in general) reduce its footprint to the degree that it is able by shifting services and population centers further inland into a more controllable environment. We need to minimize the risk and expense of maintaining those assets in view of their inevitable matches with hurricanes and flooding. I’m certain we can develope high speed shuttle systems to move labor. Maybe we could use some of that Pittsburgh steel and kill two birds with one stone. With giving this all of about 5 seconds thought, I’m almost envisioning a bipolar city – call it a dogbone. Low population density, heavy industry portion on one end, high population density, light industry and services on the other, conjoined with transportation conduits of various types. I have no idea if this is practical but it seems like a concept worth spending 10 seconds pondering.
Not having those ports would not only drive up the cost of nearly everything we import through them, it would do the same to nearly everything we export through them as well. Do we really need to put that kind of ball-and-chain on our economy?
Again, not advocating port closure. But McGehee brings up a good point too. What would be the effect of shifting gears and endorsing a gradual move to Baton Rouge? If it is less prone to flood because of geography, then invest the assests to strengthen it against hurricane L6+ winds and change zoning so that housing/condos/hotels are not allowed to be built within a certain distance of the waterline (say 1/2 to 1 mile?).
Now, what would this do to the cost of goods? Since I’m not saying we should abandon the port, then maybe very little, at least until the funding of the infrastructure rebuild has been amortized. If a diversion through better placed and secured ports is possible, then maybe there is no loss in efficiency either. But now that we have suffered a very expensive catastrophe, we have to incorporate that “hidden” cost into our shipping expenses too. The loss of life is less calculable… unless one is in the insurance industry in which case such cold analyses are routine and necessary though unpleasant. While the reconstruction will eventually finish, the threats by natural forces won’t. Consider another hurricane striking the Mississippi Delta again this season and its impact on the weakened state’s infrastructure. Or in two years when all of those houses are partly patched and inhabited. How responsive will everyone be when the proper adjustments were not made before allowing capital (organic and inorganic) to flood the region? How deep are our coffers and how much future debt are we willing to absorb before we just don’t have the assets to shift? And what if another region, say somewhere along the San Andreas fault, gets hit simultaneously? It seems exceedingly wasteful and irresponsible to follow the same roadmap given that we have seen the results of such folly repeatedly. Isn’t such a pattern of behavior defined as insanity?
Re: AnonymousDrivel’s post (9/4/2005 @ 2:28 PM)
I think that when I responded to your post I got a little confused and mixed in responses to points others had posted. Blame it on the lateness of the hour and the fact that I was distracted by a flame-war on another site (which I shall shortly be returning to). I stand (or more precisely, sit) corrected.
The problem with your *dogbone* idea is that as far as I know (and Paul would know far better than I) N.O. is pretty much surrounded by lakes and swamps. There simply isn’t anyplace else to put a city big enough to support the ports. At least not without howls from conservation groups about despoiling our wetlands. As to whether we should rebuild the tourist mecca/party town part of N.O., where else are drunken college girls going go to to flash in exchange for beads and tacky T-shirts?
As for McGehee’s suggestion of moving the whole kit n’ kaboodle north to Baton Rouge, I don’t think the river is deep enough or, more importantly, wide enough for ocean-going vessels to navigate that far north. (Again, Paul would know much better than I.) Deepening and widening it enough for such ships to pass each other, navigate AND keeping it that way could very well be more expensive in the long run than rebuilding N.O. to withstand a Cat 5 hurricane. And could very well be impossible. (Think supertankers.)
But to steal a line from my favorite philosopher, that’s just my opinion; I could be wrong.
We need to take some pointers from the Dutch, their whole country is below sea level. I’ll bet they now how to build a levee. Everybody Keeps dinging G.W for this disaster, but the mayor and the gov are more responsible for this tragedy. They should have called the guard up. They should have used things like school buses to evac people who could get themselves out. Local officials knew that the levees would hold, and they did nothing. It took prompting from the G.W. to get the mandatory evac. Then the evac sounded something like this. If you can leave you must leave
RE: fatman’s post (September 4, 2005 06:19 PM)
About the lateness, confusion, and extraneous flaming – no problem. Been there, done that here about a week-and-a-half ago.
The problem with your *dogbone* idea is that as far as I know (and Paul would know far better than I) N.O. is pretty much surrounded by lakes and swamps.
Maybe a Pteridactyl wing-bone would be better. Still, sticking so close to the Gulf’s edge for so much of the ancillary services seems too risky.
There simply isn’t anyplace else to put a city big enough to support the ports. At least not without howls from conservation groups about despoiling our wetlands.
If so the dike system to be used better be other-worldly and the locals and business centered there should not utter one word about the required increase in taxes. As far as conservationist concerns, I’m generally one that shares them but recognize a reasonable option when I see one. Concessions need be made here.
As to whether we should rebuild the tourist mecca/party town part of N.O., where else are drunken college girls going go to to flash in exchange for beads and tacky T-shirts?
I imagine there are any number of cities willing to undertake this problem. In fact every state in the union would create express lane and hire private jets to accommodate those poor, displaced souls… and their goods.
As for McGehee’s suggestion of moving the whole kit n’ kaboodle north to Baton Rouge, I don’t think the river is deep enough or, more importantly, wide enough for ocean-going vessels to navigate that far north. (Again, Paul would know much better than I.) Deepening and widening it enough for such ships to pass each other, navigate AND keeping it that way could very well be more expensive in the long run than rebuilding N.O. to withstand a Cat 5 hurricane. And could very well be impossible. (Think supertankers.)
Well, let’s get out the pad and pencil, or let’s hire out the heavy math because I think we’ll break our spreadsheet number-crunching this one. I’m a bit out of my league here.
AnonymousDrivel:
One thing to consider is what effect widening and deepening the channel would do to the river’s depth. I’m no engineer (obviously), but I would think that widening the river would spread a finite amount of fresh water over a much larger area, thus making the river much shallower. Now seawater could–and maybe would–back up into the channel, restoring the depth. But then you have the problem of salt water seeping into the local water table, making it undrinkable and killing off the local vegation, which would cause massive erosion problems. Which, if I’m not mistaken, is already a major problem as you get closer to the delta.
That’s “vegetation” ^^. And damn near misspelled it again.
(Memo to self: sleep, preview bar and Encarta dictionary; use them, live them, BE them. *sigh*)
Mac Lorry,
It’s also short-sighted to live in the dessert or in the midwest, over the New Madrid fault. When Las Vegas runs out of water, will you be saying the same thing?
The idea that New Orleans is vital
to the entire econmomy of the US
is well made.
So what to do.
The city itself seems to be repairable.
Note that the breaks that flooded the city
were on those strange stunted “canals”
that protude into the city from the
lake. Maybe those should be sealed off.
The main dikes against the river itself,
that runs “above” the city, held. There
were unflooded areas along the edges of
the city and much of the freeway system
was above water. This included the bridges
over the river to the west (unflooded)
side. It would seem that the main problem
was manpower and leadership.
Given that leadership will improve in the
future. The question is how to make
the city more “robust.” One way would be
to provide a way to seal sections of the
city from the others so a breached dike
would not flood the whole thing. They do
this on boats you know. Current elevated
sections of freeways could be beefed up and
used as bulkheads or dividers to secure parts
of the city separately.
The incredible amounts of money that they
are going to spend rebuilding the area,
means that there are resounces to do some
things right.
The critical thing is to figure what
“right” is