Daniel_

This is chilling.

There was an interview on the BBC Radio4 5pm news programme this evening with a journalist called Chris Mooney.

It mentioned an article he'd written for American Prospect in May 2005 called "Thinking Big About Hurricanes" (Link) about what might happen to New Orleans should it be hit by a Category 4 or 5 hurricane. Despite the increasing risk of a catastrophic event, he calls for technology to bolster the city against nature:

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Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
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barenakedladies

WOW hes like nostradamus. He predicted the outcome of american idol or something.

drainpipe

Actually, even earlier than that: http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/n...geographic.com

October 2004. Almost one year before.

But yeah. it's scary how accurate some of this is.

Daniel_

I'm not saying it was spooky - I'm saying it's damed sad that the experts were ignored by US Govt.

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Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
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j8ear

There are reports of New Orleans vulnerability to flooding as far back as 2001...I'm quite certain even early.

Here's one from Scientific American circa 2001...

-bear

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vautrain

Everybody who lives on the gulf coast knows how vulnerable they are. The people of New Orleans, and those who have bothered to study its geographic peculiarities, have known for a long time that New Orleans has three problems- the Mississippi river, the Gulf of Mexico/Lake Pontchartrain, and its elevation- whereas, most cities on the coast only have one.

Pacifier

You don't need to be an expert to realise that a coastal city which is mostly below the sea level is in high danger of a flood. (look at the netherlands...)

Also, I predict that californian cities are very likely to be hit by an earthquake within the next 20 (or so) years

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clavus

Look further back in time, about 15 -20 years. John McPhee dedicated about 1/3 of his book "The Control of Nature" to New Orleans and it's precarious geography.

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Cynthetiq

Right.

Being amazed that something happens where it should be in the scope of time in relation to planet earth... isn't anything to be surprised about. It's just a matter of time.

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oberon

Yeah, this isn't news. People have known for a long time that New Orleans could be flooded and devastated by a strong hurricane. I daresay they knew it when they built the city almost 300 years ago.

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gh0ti

I remember The Weather Channel had a series back in the '90's about the most vulnerable cities to hurricanes in the US. New Orleans was ranked at the top. It’s been well known for a while that this could happen. Why we were not better prepared to help these poor people?

Watching the CBS evening news last night almost brought tears to my eyes. CNN did a pretty sobering interview with the Mayor of New Orleans this morning that pretty much sums it up.

I guess the photo ops from this afternoon will make people forget how bad this situation has been handled form the beginning.

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Daniel_

The point is, Oberon, that recent human influenced goegraphical changed (draining etlands, divertign rivers, removing oil and gas from the substrata) have made things worse, but people haven't used the massive wealth that has been extracted from the region to make the region safe.

And as I said elsewhere, some of the poorest people in the US live in an area with phenomenal wealth in resources.

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╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
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Sweetpea

Indeed! Why didn't they listen??!

Sweetpea

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powerclown

Hard to argue this.

There are almost 600 oil rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, accounting for 25% of US oil production. 20 have been confirmed missing, adrift, or sunk. Maybe they didn't realize the extent of the damage potential of this partiular hurricane.

analog

What he said.

Daniel_

I'm not sayig anyoe could have stopped the weather, or could stop the earthquakes - I just wonder if there would have been more money spent on the defenses if they'd been rich northern white folks instead of poor southern black folks.

I wouldn't be shocked to hear that more money was spent gardening in N.Y. in the last few years than was spent keeping N.O. defended.


Oil is huge business.

Oil companies make vast profits even in bad years, and yet the localities where that oil is pulled from are left to sink into the ground every year INCREASING their flood risk.

Just lstened to an interview with one of the former officers of the US Army Corps of Engineers who was re-allocated by the pentagon three years ago because he argued that more should be spent on defenses at home and less on blowig up afghan wedding parties.

How much did the federal govrnment spend on investigating the shuttle accident?

How much did the federal government spend on tax cuts for the rich?

How much did the federal government spend on keepig it's citizens safe in N.O.?

I don't know the answers to all the questions here, but I know that I'm glad I live in tax and spend Europe, rather than pay for it yourself America right now.

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╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝