Re: Is New Orleans finished ?

Dirk Bruere at Neopax wrote...
>
> bill.sloman@xxxxxxxx wrote:
>
>> New Orleans is fixable.
>>
>> Most of the western side of the Netherlans is below sea level, and a
>> chunk of it flooded in 1953. They fixed the dykes and pumped the water
>> out - so can you.
>
> How would Holland fare if subjected to huge hurricanes periodically?

That's a good point, but so is Bill's point. New Orleans wasn't done
in by the Hurricane, per se, but rather by a 20-foot-high storm surge
in Lake Pontchartrain, and by a dike or levee that structurally failed,
even tho the water was below its top. It's speculated that the levee's
base failed. We need ways to test these issues. That's something the
Dutch know a lot about, and we could learn from them. And if we do,
perhaps we could save 100's of billions of dollars of property loss
the next time. And, given Bush and our heavy oil-burning CO2 scene,
there *will* be a next time. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.


--
Thanks,
- Win
.