Quite a while ago, I knew a guy who lived in Gretna, right outside of New Orleans. He would always watch and comment on the weather reports because his house always flooded when it rained. I asked him why it flooded. He explained to me about how New Orleans and the surrounding area was like a bowl and below sea level. Immediately two questions jumped into my mind. The first was why would anybody live there and the second was why would a city have been built there to begin with? There could not be a happy ending for a city surrounded by water on 3 sides and below sea level.
I've had many opportunities to visit New Orleans, but have chosen not to. It's a dirty city with way too many people, noise, crime, parties and drinking.
The news today was filled with pictures of New Orleans. I, for one, will never forget the images that came out of there two years ago this week. It was absolutely unbelievable to see what the people of that city went through during the storm and the aftermath of the next several days. It was shocking to see the anguish on those faces and to hear their pleas to get out of there. I couldn't imagine being there, I might just have lost my mind. At that time I said many times that I would never complain about anything ever again. (Sorry to say, that didn't last too long, as I've found plenty to complain about since.)
More mistakes than can be counted happened that week and in the two years since. The biggest mistake, in my opinion, is the rebuilding of many areas of that city. The lack of planning for rebuilding their communities is appalling. The government has proven that they can't build levees that will hold up against a Category 3 (or greater) storm which is sure to be in their future.
With global warming, oceans are already rising and it's only a matter of time before all coastline cities are going to be in real trouble, which will just make Katrina look like a summer storm instead of the devastating hurricane it was.
I've had many opportunities to visit New Orleans, but have chosen not to. It's a dirty city with way too many people, noise, crime, parties and drinking.
The news today was filled with pictures of New Orleans. I, for one, will never forget the images that came out of there two years ago this week. It was absolutely unbelievable to see what the people of that city went through during the storm and the aftermath of the next several days. It was shocking to see the anguish on those faces and to hear their pleas to get out of there. I couldn't imagine being there, I might just have lost my mind. At that time I said many times that I would never complain about anything ever again. (Sorry to say, that didn't last too long, as I've found plenty to complain about since.)
More mistakes than can be counted happened that week and in the two years since. The biggest mistake, in my opinion, is the rebuilding of many areas of that city. The lack of planning for rebuilding their communities is appalling. The government has proven that they can't build levees that will hold up against a Category 3 (or greater) storm which is sure to be in their future.
With global warming, oceans are already rising and it's only a matter of time before all coastline cities are going to be in real trouble, which will just make Katrina look like a summer storm instead of the devastating hurricane it was.
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