best wishes to all who are in the area or have friends and family there, i fear there are going to be some truely tragic sights over the next few days.
oh cory, big hugs to you and prayers for your friend and his family.
we have been watching the news and cant even begin to imagine what it is going to be like for these people who have lost their homes and those who will return to no home.
it doesnt even seem right to say at least they are alive, but i guess they would understand such a statement.
If people would rather donate some money to a specific person or family affected by this, and want to help out my friend and fellow blindie, here's where you can send a check:
H. Eric Hartman
c/o Paul Averill
956 Frog Hollow Road
Dahlonega, GA 30533-3024
There are 7 adults staying there that have nothing but the few items they took from their houses when they left New Orleans on Sunday. They're staying at a cousin's house and will be there for about a week. After that, if you send a check to the above address, Artman's cousin will forward the check to them. They're going to try and rent a house somewhere.
Make the check out to H. Eric Hartman, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Cory
You are not a human being having a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being having a human experience.
....Building a city near the sea, below sea level, was an accident waiting to happen, wasn't it.....
SEA is the operative word here..... my home town created 27 centuries ago and no this is not a typo has survived being one of the main seaports on the Med. Part of the old city had been built off the sea floor and when heavy rains visit (not that often) geysers of water shoot out of the manholes ... All that said.... the Med has tides of inches compared to oceanic tides of many feet.
The Rhone delta has been left 'wild' so to speak with a good part of it as a park reserve, and it fluctuates to and fro thru the years and centuries. Historic towns built miles inland are now quite close to water.
Yes, we have have lost a historic jewel known all over the world but the surrounding areas of NO are extremly poor and so many did not have the economic 'power' to leave. Those may be the forgotten ones
Somebody described the damage on the Gulf Coast as "Mother Nature's PMS". I think that about covers it...
When I first visited N'Awlins a couple of years back, Artman took us up to the levees and gave us the whole rundown on how they were built, etc. He even pointed out that they already knew the levees wouldn't hold up to a major storm, and that plans were underway to shore them up, and that it would take a few years. Looks like they ran out of time....
Talked to Artman's sister this morning, and thankfully, they've made contact with their brother and father, so the entire family is now accounted for.
Cory
You are not a human being having a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being having a human experience.
> Building a city near the sea, below sea level, was
> an accident waiting to happen, wasn't it.
I was just reading about this situation this morning:
Turns out the city was actually 10 feet above sea level when it was established in the 1700's.
They started building levees to control seasonal flooding, and this caused the ground to start sinking (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch per year). The area is now 3-10 feet below sea level, and will continue to sink further as time goes on.
Their efforts to build levees and pump more water out just makes the problem worse. The whole area is built on sediment from the Mississippi river, so when you take the water away, the ground sinks under it's own weight.
I read some "pre-hurricane" reports that were predicting New Orleans would be completely under water in another 100 years or so.
> Maybe it shouldn't be rebuilt the same way
> or in the same spot. ??
I realize New Orleans is "home" to many people, but it seems foolish to go back and rebuild in that same spot. This isn't the first time the city has been flooded, and it won't be the last.
Source: University Of New Orleans Date: 2000-01-21
With predicted sea level rise, wetland loss, subsidence, and the absence of restoration programs, the future of New Orleans appears bleak. Research from University of New Orleans scientists examine the processes driving catastrophic coastal conditions and the breakdown of the Mississippi River Delta.
By the year 2100, the city of New Orleans may be extinct, submerged in water. A future akin to the fabled sunken city of Atlantis? Yes, according to Dr. Chip Groat, Director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Washington, D.C., "With the projected rate of subsidence (the natural sinking of land), wetland loss, and sea level rise," he said, "New Orleans will likely be on the verge of extinction by this time next century."
University of New Orleans coastal geologist Dr. Shea Penland and coastal geomorphologist Dr. Denise Reed have spent their careers (combined 40 years) figuring out exactly what is driving this catastrophic condition. Their research has identified the specific problems jeopardizing the future of New Orleans and southern Louisiana. "We have the greatest coastal land loss problem in North America. This is more than a serious problem . . . it's a catastrophic one. We're living on the verge of a coastal collapse," warns Dr. Penland.
This brings to mind a couple of things that Artman pointed out to us when we were there for Mardi Gras a couple years back.
1. He informed us then that the levees would only hold back about 10 - 12 foot storm surge, and that "studies" were being conducted on how to shore up the levees better.
2. How far CAN New Orleans sink? Artman pointed out to us one of the newer high rises in downtown New Orleans while we were there. He explained that the foundation IS on bedrock. However, they had to dig down about 200 feet to FIND that bedrock.... Yeesh.
I vote for re-establishing New Orleans in a more geographical friendly place. I want the Camelia Grille to be on St. Charles, Sid-Mars back on the shore of the lake, and the Cafe du Monde back in the Quarter. The rest is negotiable...
Cory
You are not a human being having a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being having a human experience.
It's not as if there's a whole lot of "high ground" anywhere on the US Gulf Coast...they'd have to rebuild in Baton Rouge or Shreveport to be "safe".
Building a major city on river silt isn't exactly genius. (See "Alexandria, Egypt", since eclipsed by Cairo, located safely upriver.)
However, being near the ocean and the river (300 years after the city's beginnings) still makes the city a major transportation hub for bulk commodities like grain from the Midwest, coffee and fruit from Central America, and the omnipresent oil and petrochemicals (the driving force of Louisiana's economy today). The city and the location are too important to abandon completely.
That said, however, hundreds of thousands of people should probably NOT live there. Or, if we insist on keeping a major city below sea level, maybe we should hire the Dutch to build a WORKING levee and dike system...
I was on the website craigslist and there are categories for the relief efforts. It is so comforting to me to know how good people are, the outpouring just on this site is amazing.
I heard the CEO of this website on NPR on Saturday and was really impressed with their mission. The website is 98% free and even though they don't believe in being a big corporation (only have 18 employees) they still generate millions of dollars from the classifieds they sell...go figure. Ebay bought into them because of their philosophy.
Also, I saw that the biggest animal shelter in the world from NYC has gone to NO with their busses to pick up the animals that are now being rescued and that these busses will be traveling to communities so people who want to adopt homeless pets from Katrina won't have to go to NYC.
Just a couple of ways in addition to the main relief efforts to be involved.
Too bad this government didn't spend, oh say $20 billion or so a couple years ago making the most incredible levy around N.O. ever (cause they all knew the place was going to flood eventually). Also, too bad they didn't spend another $20 billion or so taking all the poorest folk out of the city and putting them up in posh hotels (with room service) and extended stays throughout the United States because it would have been a huge savings.
Too bad the mayor and the governor didn't actually DO something beforehand to make sure police, firefighters, La. National Guard, and communications centers would be able to do their jobs after the water came.
What kind of idiots would send tens of thousands of people to a stadium that they knew would become an island to live without cots and food? Seems to me they should have asked for federal aid to get those poor and unfortunate people out before they were trapped. Buses and troop trucks beforehand are a lot cheaper than helicopter rescues afterward.
It seems as if the local governments' entire disaster plan was, "get the hell out of Dodge and the President will send in the Cavalry to clean up the mess". Waiting on others to take care of us is always a bad plan, and it always leaves us unsatisfied. At least in my experience this is true.
Look, the studies predicting this outcome were done almost a decade ago and published. A sensible local government would have been prepared for it.
Yes, those folks were victimized. By their own homegrown politicians.
