Down in the Flood

Here we go again.

Comments

[Ammonium]

I know these levees are a lot like a spare tire -- they aren't meant for heavy-duty use -- but this should serve notice to the politicians who want to pour billions of my money into that city to "rebuild".

[thoreau]

Somebody help me out: Which crazy cleric is vindicated by this?

And will this force the closure of the strip club discussed in another thread?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

joe said something about letting nature take back that whole area, in the form of wetlands.

I've talked to a hardcored Republican who thinks that's a great idea, and even mentions how worthwhile it would be to spend a couple billion to yank up all the underground stuff and bulldoze the fucking place.

So someone please explain to me.. WHY THE FUCK ARE WE REBUILDING!?

[jf]

It should serve them notice, Ammonium, but wanna put some money on whether or not it does?

[mk]

You can't run from the power of God

Some people still think this way? My sympathy meter just went way down.

Good quote from Blanco on the SSNs and indelible ink. Quote of the week stuff. I wonder how many people will take her to task for it?

[saw-whet]

Ammonium - "billions of my money" Holy shit! We've got a billionaire on this site!

[Solitudinarian]

Good quote from Blanco on the SSNs and indelible ink. Quote of the week stuff. I wonder how many people will take her to task for it?

Probably no one - she got it off John Tierney who wrote it a couple of weeks ago.

[mtc]

mk, I was wondering if that had been taken out of context in the story, and was in fact sarcasm mocking that official in some mid-atlantic state who caught a bunch of flak for claiming that was local policy during mandatory evacuations.

At this point though it wouldn't suprise me if she meant it.

I wonder if the city will be as deeply submerged this time. How many hurricanes will it take? I don't think they're going to get the point in NOLA unless they get hit with a few more vicious storms within the next couple of years. What's more likely is antoher one doesn't come along for 20 or 30 years when the city is fairly well recovered, devestates it to the same degree, and then they pols will be saying "we rebuilt it once, we can rebuild it again (with the rest of the nations tax dollars)."

[Ammonium]

Well, I hope it's eventually billions of my money. But for now it's only thousands (with a small 's') of my money.

[Hakluyt]

Well, the Industrial Canal levee breaks were really only had been plugged up, they hadn't been fix (that'll take months).

As to rebuilding the city, well, hopefully they will leave much of it submerged (after they clean the houses and cars out of the area). I believe that is one of the current plans; the build higher levees, work on fixing the wetland buffer between NOLA and the Gulf (fixing it more than it has been fixed that is), and leaving portions of the city open to flooding if a hurricane hits (to give the levees relief).

[D.A. Ridgely]

If we don't rebuild New Orleans, the terrorists will have won! (Besides, it's for the children!)

[Isaac Bartram]

(Besides, it's for the children!)

It's a good thing it's for the children, after all, they're going to be paying for it. 🙂

[joe]

Mista Niceguy,

Only some of the city would naturally be wetlands. There is still a lot of it, including that French Quarter, that should stay under any scenario.

I do support rebuilding New Orleans - I just think that much of it should be rebuilt on high ground a few miles up the road.

[Hakluyt]

The death toll from Katrina stands at 1078 (the recovery of bodies was suspended today in NOLA).

[ed]

"Some people still think this way?"

MK: Black, poor and Southern most certainly thinks that way. Funny, in a very tragic sort of way.

[Rick Barton]

If those levees were privately owned, many deaths and much suffering would likely have been avoided. This is yet another tragedy of the commons.

[jf]

Rick:

I explained that exact concept to my girlfriend the other night, who is starting to come around to a more libertarian way of thinking. I've almost got her convinced on private fire departments as well.

Try as I might I can't come up with a single good counter-argument as to why the levees should not have been privatized. I suppose if you end up with mucho kickbacks from the levee company to the government and have the contract loaded with fine print which allows the levee company to shift responsibility to the city in case of catastrophe, you could end up with the same problem you have when a bank collapses. The contract would have to be written in plain English and every page posted on a web site for anyone to see for 30 days before approval by the city council and that could solve that problem.

[MP]

This is yet another tragedy of the commons.

No. Tragedy of the Commons refers to the overutilization of a publicly shared resource.

[Rick Barton]

jf,

Amother scenario would have the developers paying for the levees, and the levees suitability motivated by insurance contracts. This would leave the government further out of the loop.

It has been widely known for a long time that that key levees would not withstand a cat. five hurricane and that when one finally hit, the city would face ruination with loss of life. But, the government owned the levees and, "Oh well". If the levees were privately owned there would, of course, be insurance contracts that would engender much more resilient levees that would be built to withstand the storm that was widely believed would eventually descend upon New Orleans.

Kudos on the progress with your girlfriend!

[Rick Barton]

MP,

I'm hep. The commonality of the two that I was pointing to is the "publicly shared" aspect.

[Jadagul]

Mr. Nice Guy: to echo Hakluyt and Joe (wait-did I really just say that?), some parts of the city should be rebuilt. Other parts shouldn't. The Lower Ninth Ward is a really, really good candidate for "a place we shouldn't rebuild." It was pretty crappy anyway. The French Quarter and the Garden District (old, rich area) are good candidates for "Places we should rebuild." Historic, nice, and not too badly damaged if I've heard right.

And Lakeview is a good candidate for a neighborhood to direct all the relief money, especially if it's directed in the form of small, unmarked bills to be delivered to a certain family whose house is there and probably got trashed.

[D.A. Ridgely]

The problem with "places we should rebuild" and "places we shouldn't" is that "we" shouldn't be in the business of deciding which is which. Of course, the Garden District and French Quarter will be rebuilt / restored / whatever. Why? Because people as private agents will want to do it and because it is in their economic interests to do so. Of course the Ninth Ward largely shouldn't be rebuilt -- who rebuilds slums?

Oh, I forgot. The government does.

[techreseller]

The people of New Orleans can rebuild any section of the city they want. Upon these conditions;

No federal flood insurance. Only fully private insurance. If you can find someone (other than a government entity)to insure you, then build away. Or rebuild with your own money and take the risk. But no Federal or State bailout when the next flood comes.

No current Federal or State funds used to rebuild. Only private insurance funds. See #1
Only exceptions are the people who had federally backed flood insurance. But the new insurance cannot be federally backed. See #1

That should do it. Willing to take a risk or find a private party to back you in taking the risk, go for it. Asking me to help pay for you to take the risk without my explicit buy-in, no way.