New Orleans What Ifs

[Luv2Roam]

Sorry for this topic, and hope it won't be too morbid for some. And much of this could speak for any coastal metro area.
But looking at WORSE case scenerios...
I have never been to NO, so don't know the geography well, etc.

Say the worse happens, and the bowl fills up with water that can't be pumped out in time to do enough good.
What is in that area now?
Would that area be salvagable afterwards?
Will areas be built up in the rebirth? Will the area even be reclaimed?
If the bridges do go out, what does that do to the city? (A headache, obviously.) But would it allow no movement basically around the city?

Just a lot of What Ifs.
And those who know of NO and the way it is now, I would like to hear thoughts.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

As morbid as this might sound, it would basically become one big snake and gator farm, because those animals would have to go somewhere.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

B/c it is property owned by people--they will just do something--it would just take many times longer than your average at sea level catastrophic event.

I do not see the area getting completely abandonded though.

We will get to see what happens "after" the movie is over--as disaster movies always stop when the destruction occurs--but never tells what happens after.

 

[stevenpensacola]

From what I've read, the "witches brew" of what would be contained in the bowl which in New Orleans will be very very difficult to deal with.

The very levees, which were built to keep the Mississippi River and Lake Ponch waters out of the city, will be what traps the water in the city.

Every drop of water which falls in New Orleans must be pumped out.

Go to amazon.com and purchase "The Control of Nature" by John McPhee is you want to read what a tenous existence New Orleans has. The Miss River want to bypass Baton Rouge and NO in favor of a shorter route to the Gulf. Only the intervention of the Corps of Engineers has prevented this so far.

 

[Planogirl]

I recall once when the French Quarter was badly flooded that it did little to damage the integrity of the old brick buildings. I imagine that it would depend on how long the flood lasted too.

 

[va32h]

I was talking to my sister about this - she wondered what is going to happen to all the people who work ordinary hourly wage jobs. Insurance or federal funds might pay for their homes and property, but what are they going to do if the hotel they used to work at is flooded and won't reopen for months?

 

[Kermit]

I'm trying to be positive. The older buildings, while they weren't built to modern codes, have survived many storms. Betsy wasn't as bad as this one is predicted to be, but the slightest change of path could make Katrina not be as bad as they're saying, too.

The bridges will not go out. That's not possible. The bridges in New Orleans are high enough for ocean-going ships to go underneath them.

My family owns a plant nursery just outside of New Orleans. (It's Banting's Nursery in Bridge City, on River Road under the shadow of the Huey P. Long Bridge, for those of you familiar with the area.) I'm very worried about that. If their inventory (which is mainly outside) blows away and the green houses blow over, I don't know if they'll rebuild.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I was talking to my sister about this - she wondered what is going to happen to all the people who work ordinary hourly wage jobs. Insurance or federal funds might pay for their homes and property, but what are they going to do if the hotel they used to work at is flooded and won't reopen for months?

We have hotels that happened here--3 in our community still closed and many months from completion. It has been a year since they've been damaged (actually 11 months). The 4th they don't even know what they will be doing with it. The first hotel is due to open by the new year with total closure of 15 months. The other hotels are due open in April for total closure of 19 months.

They will probably have some back and help clean it up--and get paid for it. If the hotel is going to be rebuilt, some employees will get retained, but not many. The rest can apply for unemployment I believe as they are pretty much terminated--and then they have to find new jobs. (Of course, where they find new jobs--who knows?).

not sure on unemployment law--but that would be my first guess.

 

[totalia]

Oh my gods. I don't even want to think about that.

My fiance would be totally screwed. If the city goes underwater, I think most people will just leave it all behind. Its just not worth the effort it would take to rebuild. Its taken hundreds of years to get it the way it is now.

Ok, I have more to say but I need to stop talking about this. Sorry.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The bridges will not go out. That's not possible. The bridges in New Orleans are high enough for ocean-going ships to go underneath them.

My family owns a plant nursery just outside of New Orleans. (It's Banting's Nursery in Bridge City, on River Road under the shadow of the Huey P. Long Bridge, for those of you familiar with the area.) I'm very worried about that. If their inventory (which is mainly outside) blows away and the green houses blow over, I don't know if they'll rebuild.

As far as the bridges--it isn't the height--bridges are built to sway/give/take with winds--I hated driving across them b/c boy they do move and you can feel it.

It is possible for there integrity to be compromised by the winds and not the floods.

I hope your family has good insurance--they can apply for aid and the Small Business Admin does provide loans for people to rebuild.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't see the government abandoning the city at all.

Cities have been flattened by disaster--and they rebuild.

 

[Kermit]

I agree that the city will definitely be rebuilt. There will be some businesses that will choose to take cash rather than rebuild. In my own family's example, their nursery hasn't been doing too well in recent years due to the popularity of buying plants at places like Home Depot. I'm sure a number of small businesses would decide that rebuilding simply isn't in their best interest. That would take away some jobs, but new jobs in construction would be plentiful.

 

[jx3smom]

I just saw on the Weather Channel that the Army Corps. has completed the construction of 9 hurricane proof bridges with only one more to go so it seems that the bridges will not be destroyed.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just saw on the Weather Channel that the Army Corps. has completed the construction of 9 hurricane proof bridges with only one more to go so it seems that the bridges will not be destroyed.

That is good news. Though I wouldn't want to be sitting on them--I'm sure they will be swaying quite a bit.

 

[stevenpensacola]

I think the bridges will be the least of their worries. Think about all sewage, chemicals from chemical plants, gasoline from autos, etc that will be in the "bowl" that is New Orleans.

 

[snappy]

Right now it is loss of life that I am more worried about. All of our close relatives from N.O. have evacuated, and we have heard from them. we do have some folks in Slidell, not sure how they will come out.