Oktober 2004, The Louisiana bayou, hardest working marsh in America, is in big trouble—with dire consequences for residents, the nearby city of New Orleans, and seafood lovers everywhere. Full story: http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/ Full story: It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday. But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however—the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.<snip>
Repped. Good find! October 2004: "When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great."
I'll take that $100 a place it on a bet that reporters and historians will soon be showing us proof that this has been a known issues for 30+ years. A friend moved down there in the early mid 90s and it was a known back then that they weren't ready for a big hurricane.
You'd win. They were 8 feet under water in 1965 following a Hurricane. Doesn't seem like they learned their lesson.
Most of the town wasn't under 8 feet of water. Betsy might have done some damage but it was nothing - NOTHING - like what they're dealing with now. I know. I was there. There were no floodwaters in my neighborhood in 1965 and power was back within a week. Hell, there were people in suburban DC who waited longer than that to get power after Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003. That said, it was no secret that the city was extremely vulnerable to strong hurricanes. I don't think anyone but President Bush has claimed otherwise.
Well, Betsy might not have been Katrina, but one would think it was certainly evidence of the possible danger.
Yes, it was. Everyone knew that this could happen. It wasn't a secret. There wasn't a cover-up. The Times-Picayune knew it. Scientists at every university in the state knew it. The National ********ing Geographic knew it. It wasn't a secret. I'm not sure what your point is.
Hey, we even covered in my entry-level college physical geography class how completely screwed NO was in the case of a high level hurricane.
