[at-l] Sea level and all that..was something else.

[AThiker at smithville.net (Felix)]

Walt Daniels wrote:

>>I know I am going to be burned in effigy for this, but has 
>>anyone thought that maybe this should not be rebuilt? This is 
>>a flood plain for one of the largest lakes in the U.S. (half 
>>the size of Rhode Island) and one of the largest and most 
>>swift rivers in the world. I truly feel for these people that 
>>have lost EVERYTHING. This is terrible terrible.But this was 
>>a disaster waiting to happen. You can only hold mother nature 
>>back for so long before it busts loose. And when it decided 
>>to bust loose, no canal or flood wall is going to help in any way.
>>
>>Dawg
>>    
>>
>I won't do the burning. Similar thoughts had occurred to me. Perhaps not as
>strong as "not rebuilt", but certainly some of the considerations should be
>the cost effectiveness of building in a disaster prone area below sealevel.
>
>So far they are in disaster recovery mode. I hope someone somewhere is doing
>some serious long term planning.
>

My engineer skewling didn't make it very far...but, I am still able to 
do this kinda figgering:

_________________                                                                   
__________________________
Sea 
level                                                                                           
Lake Pontchartrain level

                                   ________________________________
                                    New Orleans level

Now, something just doesn't seem right about that. And, I agree with 
Dawg that I think it's unfortunate that so many people have been so 
horribly affected. BUT, I still like it when nature kicks us in the ass 
a bit and lets us know who's boss. Some things we're just not supposed 
to do.  And, I agree with Walt that the ugly side of humanity seems to 
be getting uglier.