Billion-dollar flood protection system around New Orleans proves reliable

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Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
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Who in their right mind builds on coasts, in tornado country, where fires break out, on faults, etc?

We know the risk and we take responsibility for our actions.

Unlike the new orleans area that had a billion dollar system put in.

The government is fostering a nanny state where people do not have to take responsibility for their actions. Why bother with flood insurance, or moving, when the government will put in a system to protect the community?

What about places like Orange Texas that have shipyards and chemical plants? Why isn't a levee and pump system being put into place to protect Orange?

Is new orleans the future of the gulf coast? Where every community is going to get levees and pump system?
 
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EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,591
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The economic impact of the NOLA area is such that the government has invested funds to maintain the economic benefits.

Other areas do not have the same economic impact if destroyed.
Some will get rebuilt; some may be able to obtain preventive measures.

And it is not just private areas that come under such scrutiny. government facilities do also.

example; Homestead AFB after Andrew visited. Wsa decided to not rebuild entirely but to transition into a reserve base.
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,591
5
0
Now if you have a hard on for NOLA; no amount of explanation will clear it up.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
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That way we do not have to keep fixing stuff.

Who in their right mind builds something below sea level anyway?

Its only one of the largest ports in the nation and THE largest energy hub in the nation. Naw, we don't need that shit, lets just get rid of that non-essential bullshit.
 

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
197
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Amsterdam?

My tax dollars are not going to Amsterdam.


Its only one of the largest ports in the nation and THE largest energy hub in the nation. Naw, we don't need that shit, lets just get rid of that non-essential bullshit.

You are trying to say new orleans is a larger hub then houston?

the $15 billion petrochemical complex at the Houston Ship Channel is the largest in the country - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Houston#Petrochemicals

Port of Houston handles around 212 million tons of cargo yearly.

Port of New Orleans handles about 62 million short tons of cargo a year.

If you want to include the mississippi river cargo, then it goes up to 500 tons for new orleans.

If new orleans can get new levees and pump stations to protect a smaller economy then houston, where is houstons levees?
 
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Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
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Inbound water has to go somewhere. If not into the area being blocked off; it disperses to the easiest routes.

Any water that was pumped has to go somewhere.

It is great that they think they have NOLA protected; now the rest of the area needs protection from the NOLA protection plan.

No.

The rain water that was pumped out of Nola is akin to a few hundred people pissing in the ocean. The flooding was not caused by NOLA pumping out the rain water, which it does every single time it rains.

The flooding was caused by the storm surge.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
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Its my understanding that New Orleons was orginally basically a little above sea level. The problem is that meanwhile so much fresh water under the city itself has been pumped up for drinking water, the city of New Orleans has dropped below sea level.

Drinking water? Why would anyone pump water out of the ground in the NOLA area? We have an absurd abundance of fresh water. The entire area is VERY slowly sinking but that really isn't the issue.

The French Quarter and downtown NOLA (the original areas developed) are all built on land above sea level and didn't even flood in Katrina. The rest of the metro area was built later in lower lying areas. I am not sure if the federal levee protection came before or after those areas were developed but most have been around for quite a long while now.

Our absolute biggest issue is we have lost almost ALL of our wetlands. Those wetlands used to be our protection from hurricanes because they would absorb a lot of the storm surge as well as weaken the storm before it hit populated areas.

In the last 100 years we have lost an area of wetlands equal to the state of Delaware.

Here is a site if you would like to read up on it a bit more. http://lacoast.gov/new/About/Default.aspx
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
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Why would the government have to pay for jack?

If people do not like getting flooded, move.

When FEMA bought out my mom and dad, they were not forced to take the buyout.

But on the flipside, after three floods, the flood insurance would have been something like $1,200 a month.

You do know that flood insurance is a federally subsidized program right? Why should other people have to pay your parents for not only 3 floods but to buy them out of a house that was likely not marketable otherwise?

If they didn't like paying to repair their own flood damage they should have moved after the first one right? Or just been smart enough not to purchase a home there in the first place.
 

Atreus21

Lifer
Aug 21, 2007
12,007
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Drinking water? Why would anyone pump water out of the ground in the NOLA area? We have an absurd abundance of fresh water. The entire area is VERY slowly sinking but that really isn't the issue.

The French Quarter and downtown NOLA (the original areas developed) are all built on land above sea level and didn't even flood in Katrina. The rest of the metro area was built later in lower lying areas. I am not sure if the federal levee protection came before or after those areas were developed but most have been around for quite a long while now.

Our absolute biggest issue is we have lost almost ALL of our wetlands. Those wetlands used to be our protection from hurricanes because they would absorb a lot of the storm surge as well as weaken the storm before it hit populated areas.

In the last 100 years we have lost an area of wetlands equal to the state of Delaware.

Here is a site if you would like to read up on it a bit more. http://lacoast.gov/new/About/Default.aspx

Isn't the wetlands loss mostly attributable to not allowing the river to meander as it wishes?
 

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
197
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You do know that flood insurance is a federally subsidized program right? Why should other people have to pay your parents for not only 3 floods but to buy them out of a house that was likely not marketable otherwise?

Why not just mandate insurance carriers offer flood insurance?
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
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My tax dollars are not going to Amsterdam.




You are trying to say new orleans is a larger hub then houston?

the $15 billion petrochemical complex at the Houston Ship Channel is the largest in the country - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Houston#Petrochemicals

Port of Houston handles around 212 million tons of cargo yearly.

Port of New Orleans handles about 62 million short tons of cargo a year.

If you want to include the mississippi river cargo, then it goes up to 500 tons for new orleans.

If new orleans can get new levees and pump stations to protect a smaller economy then houston, where is houstons levees?

Yes, it is a larger energy hub than Houston. Add to that fact that we have the nations only port capable of offloading the modern ultra large and very large crude carriers and perhaps you can start to see its importance.

If we leveled Port Fourchon today by tomorrow the question would not be "how much is gas" it would be "can we find gas and how many hours are we going to have to wait for it".
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
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Why not just mandate insurance carriers offer flood insurance?

Because they won't regardless if you mandate it or not. A single event has the potential to wipe out even the largest insurance companies. No one in their right mind would take that risk.

I see you avoided my question though.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
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Isn't the wetlands loss mostly attributable to not allowing the river to meander as it wishes?

That is a large part of the problem but by far not the only issue at play. Fresh water intrusion caused by a number of things such as oil exploration and extraction is another significant contributor.

Diverting the river and preventing it from overflowing prevents new sediment from being delivered to them to replenish what normally would be lost to natural erosion that the genius in this thread attributed the entirety of the problem to. Even if that sediment was still being deposited there somehow we would still have a very significant loss of wetlands due to the dozen or so other things causing their loss.