Ten to fifteen feet of water also slammed into the South Louisiana coast as Ike sideswiped Louisiana on its way to Texas, with flooding in some areas worse than Katrina and Rita.
An interesting article about Terrebonne Parish. Terrebonne Parish is a parish that is literally disappearing -- over the past forty years, most of the parish has gone from being above water, to being below water, thanks to the oil companies dredging canals into the swamps that let salt water in to kill the plants that kept the swamp together, but most importantly because they pumped out all the oil from beneath the parish and then the ground subsiding into the now-empty basin along a slip fault that was previously undetected. The few places still above water are only three or four feet above sea level and are close to flooding even with a normal high tide. But it is also the last holdout of the swamp Cajuns, and the swamp Cajuns have little liking for anybody telling them they can't stay. So they live on their boats, or they raise their houses higher on stilts, and one day they'll all be washed away...
-- Badtux the Louisiana Penguin
Makes as much sense as building a major metropolis on land that is under sea level and then rebuilding it in the same place.
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking about New Orleans, I already mentioned on this blog that any nation has to have a major metropolis at the mouth of its largest river system in order to trans-ship goods between river barges and ocean going ships. New Orleans just happens to be the only place at the mouth of the Mississippi where it's possible to build such a city. Further downstream or upstream the land is even lower, until you get up to the bluffs at Baton Rouge, where the river is flowing too fast for large ocean-going ships to get there. So there you have New Orleans, which moves more cargo by volume than any other port in the United States. If there was not a port there, someone would have to build one, because there's just too much money involved.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with having a city that's largely below sea level if you have a government that's aggressive about building the storm control structures to keep the city safe -- heck, 60% of the population of the Netherlands is below sea level, and Rotterdam, their second-largest city, is located near the mouth of the Rhine for much the same reason that New Orleans is located near the mouth of the Mississippi and like New Orleans, Rotterdam is also largely below sea level. But the Dutch have protected it with sea walls that will hold off a 10,000 year storm. We can't even get 100 year storm protection for New Orleans, because the nation is fast to get benefit from use of the Port of New Orleans, but isn't interested in paying for the protection of the people who live there because, well, that'd cost money. So even though 1/3rd of the nation benefits from the Port of New Orleans trans-shipping their export goods (mostly grain) and even though virtually every banana and coffee bean in America was imported through the Port of New Orleans, people don't want to pay for the benefit that New Orleans adds to the nation. Everybody wants a free lunch. So it goes.
- Badtux the Unselfish Penguin
Actually, the location of New Orleans is not the problem as far as I am concerned as I agree there has to be a major city at the foot of a major river. That is how trade goods are moved from point A to point B. The need for New Orleans should be a given as you got to have some place to unload those barges.
ReplyDeleteThe issue, as I see it, is that there are significant portions that are below sea level. Unlike the Netherlands, New Orleans has significant risk of hurricanes which, as demonstrated with Katrina, can damage the levees. Couple with the tendency of the government to cut corners when the president plays his wargames. It can be a disaster waiting to happen.
What I am having a hard wrapping my head around is the need to build in the areas under sea level. Is there a shortage of dry land? Maybe it would make more sense if I lived there.
If those monkeys won't stay out of natures way she will just keep whipping their butts.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need a city where a port is, that is just stupid thinking. All you need is a port and a few highways and rail system to transport the goods and workers from the city that is in a safer place.
This isn't the days of horses and wagons anymore.
"There's nothing wrong with having a city that's largely below sea level if you have a government that's aggressive about building the storm control structures to keep the city safe."
ReplyDeleteOkay, get your ass back to work to help pay for it, over and over again.
The Netherlands gets northwesters which are every bit as nasty as a hurricane. They had 5 meter tall waves (that's 15 feet in case you're wondering) smash into their coastline in the last big storm in 2007.
ReplyDeleteIf you are wondering about the geology of south Louisiana, go look at it in Google Earth. Basically, the only ground above sea level until you hit the Baton Rouge area is a thin strip along the Mississippi River, and most of that is only barely above sea level. Old New Orleans (the part that didn't flood in the Federal Flood) is the largest piece of ground above sea level until you get to Baton Rouge. In fact, Old New Orleans was considered an island until the levees were built to keep the Mississippi River from overflowing into Bayou Manchac. If you need a city of more than 30-40K people there, you're going to have to build some dikes and pump out some water, otherwise you're going to be building on stilts and using boats to travel between buildings.
The problem in New Orleans has been compounded by two other things. First, a canal was dug between the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain that can funnel storm surge right into the heart of New Orleans. Secondly, another canal, MRGO (Mississippi River Gulf Outlet), was dug out into the Gulf of Mexico pointing towards Florida that funnels storm surge right into the first canal and thereby smashing over canal defenses that would be sufficient if not for MRGO. The Corpse of Engineers which dug MRGO has admitted that this is a problem, but refuses to fix it.
As for BBC's notion that you can have a major port without having a major city nearby where port workers can live, shop, etc., point me to any port anywhere in the world where that is true and I'll believe it. Otherwise, you might as well say the moon is made of cheese.
As for BBC's notion that we should not pay taxes to protect Americans from harm, well, that's sort of the whole point of government, right? To protect its citizens from harm? If that's not its purpose, why have government at all?
- Badtux the Louisiana Penguin
On a lighter note, the Swamp Cajuns are an amazing and fascinating sub-culture. On Galveston Island there's a similar phenomenon- the "BOI" (Born on the Island). These are adults who were born there, many of whom have never driven over the 2 mile causeway to the mainland. It creates for interesting mindsets and very interesting local culture in both places.
ReplyDelete