Will New Orleans become uninhabitable? ?

Question

With 2 deadly, massive hurricanes hitting there within 3 years. 3 years is not enough to repair all structures...what will happen to this city within the next 10 years? Will it become a waste land within next 100 years?

Answer 1

The city of Galveston Texas was hit by a category 4 hurricane in the year 1900.  Just 15 years later it was walloped again, again category 4.  This was well before there even was a Federal Emergency Management Administration.

Galveston is still there.  It would probably be a bigger city, with more population and more industry if it hadn't been nearly destroyed twice, but people still live there.

New Orleans will only "die" if its citizens choose to allow it to.

Answer 2

New Orleans is not at risk because of it's location or elevation, it's at risk because of all the canals they dug that basically bring the Gulf right into the city. If they simply fill in these canals, it will be safe for many storms.  

Answer 3

nope there are many cities that are below sealevel and have flooding as a threat, such as Venice, Italy and nearly all of the Netherlands is below sealevel, those two cities are alot older that New Orleans, but they learned to adapt to the situation.

On the other hand, New orleans is a baby compared to the Netherlands and Venice, there is alot of learning in progress about the city and the ground where its located.

I think in the next 100 years. we will finally learn how to protect New orleans from " going under" when storms approach. and also hurricane Gustav isnt "deadly" cause there hasnt been any reports of fatalities, so only katrina witll be the only one so far these pass 3 years.

Answer 4

Why do you all seem to think New Orleans has had to be frequently rebuilt? That would be Florida and California - NOT New Orleans.

NOLA has had to be rebuilt ONCE since it became a US city in 1803, and that was because the federally-built levee system failed during Katrina due to being negligently constructed.

In any event, New Orleans is not optional. History, architecture, culture, and the fact the city is home to many people are usually mentioned when the topic of the city’s future is discussed. However, those factors (while significant) are NOT why NOLA is important to the rest of the United States.

First, New Orleans is a metro area of almost 1.4 million people – not some small town that could be easily relocated somewhere else.

There is a widespread myth that New Orleans is "built below sea level”, but that is not true. Most of the city is above sea level, and the parts BSL are neighborhoods built in the 20th century on drained swampland. Swampland subsides after it is drained.

More than 35% of America's energy is either produced in Southeast Louisiana or imported through here, and the infrastructure is focused on New Orleans. What may be the largest oil field on earth was discovered offshore of Louisiana in 2006, and it will be exploited via New Orleans.

The Port of New Orleans is the largest or second largest port in North America each year (tons of cargo) and one of the top ports in the world each year. The Port of New Orleans is not replaceable.

More than 25% of America's petroleum refining capacity is in the New Orleans area. That percentage will increase due to a new refinery already under construction and the planned expansion of existing refineries.

A large percentage of America's non-petroleum chemical industry is here.

New Orleans is one of only three principal east-west transportation points for the USA, and the resulting convergence of water, rail, pipeline, electricity, and highway links is not replaceable.

A large percentage of America's ship building & repair industry is in New Orleans.

NASA builds essential parts for the space shuttle in New Orleans, and will build components for the next generation of spacecraft here. Other manufacturers (ex. Bell-Textron) have factories in New Orleans.

A large percentage of America's seafood comes from SE Louisiana, and the distribution network is focused on New Orleans.

And so on….

It is theoretically possible to move the industry and the population, but only at horrific cost. The Mississippi river, Gulf of Mexico, and the oil fields cannot be moved. To even attempt to replace New Orleans would cost Trillions of Dollars and the attempt would fail.

In contrast, New Orleans can be protected from future hurricanes with the expenditure of about $15 Billion (that should have been spent before Katrina) spread out over a period of a decade.

Note that New Orleans is NOT "prone" to hurricanes or being flooded. The last one to hit before Katrina was in 1965 and before that was in 1947. Neither of those flooded the city proper like Katrina, which was the strongest storm ever recorded to strike North America. Gustav was a near miss.

Realize that nowhere is without risk. NYC and Miami are at more risk from hurricanes than New Orleans. Los Angeles and San Francisco are at risk from earthquakes and fires. Seattle is threatened by volcanoes and Tsunamis. The Midwest is hit by tornadoes every year. However, I don’t hear anyone claiming New York, Florida, California, Kansas, or Washington (state) be abandoned, or even not rebuilt after the next disaster.

However, people routinely claim New Orleans should be abandoned, or that we somehow don’t deserve help after Katrina.

Why is that?