A possible silver lining to a very black cloud.

[beam182]

(NOTE: I am not at all trying to detract from the mass tragedy inflicted by this storm. As a matter of fact, my sister who lives just outside Baton Rouge has elected to bring her daughter and stay with me for a couple of months here in Missouri rather than return to the area, because everything's so insane down in Louisiana right now. This has affected us all in a profoundly negative way and will continue to do so in the form of major global economical and logistical problems. The purpose of this post is to outline how it may affect us in a profoundly POSITIVE way in years to come.)


New Orleans is effectively wiped out. There are still buildings standing, but that seems like more of a technicality as many of them will very likely be condemned. Houses are levelled. Even after the water levels are lowered, the roadways will be almost completely unmanageable. The structure of the city is mostly demolished.

So where's the silver lining? Let's look at a couple of things.

First, there's technology. A lot of technology is hindered by the very existence of older, obsolete technology. There might be an idea for a great transportation system but the layout of a city prevents it from being at all practical. Phone, cable and networking lines are already established and uprooting them for something new would take too much time and cause too many problems for existing consumers of the older tech.

Communication, transport, architecture, energy efficiency and a lot of other things that are in every city are well established and thus are often the reason that better things are not established.

New Orleans' infrastructure is virtually gone, but years from now when everything is cleaned up and the personal catastrophies are dealt with as well as they can be, New Orleans has the potential to be the first real 21st century city if they plan everything right.

And it's not just New Orleans. It just starts with New Orleans. Everyone is always talking about huge jumps in technology and mass changes. But these rarely happen. Usually the bigger changes creep in very slowly. New Orleans might end up being a gateway for a lot of technological advancements in practical urban development for many cities. If it is established there and it works, other cities across the nation may follow suit.

It's quite possible that Hurricane Katrina, despite all its death, despair, and devastation, may be the kick-start to developing the infrastructures of tomorrow.

The second facet is that of awareness. We all have to remember that things like this are a part of the grander cycle of nature, and this was going to happen sooner or later. Now that this is no longer a scenario drawn on paper, but rather a grim reality, perhaps the more stubborn residents of the central Gulf coast will begin to realize that they're not invincible, and will clear out when the threat looms it's ugly head again.

We haven't had a tropical disaster in a major US city in thirteen years. As horrible as this is, perhaps it will also wake up the long-unaffected areas such as Tampa proper, New York, and Galveston. I'm not suggesting a mode of panic in coastal areas, but as we enter this active cycle during the next few decades, the basic levels of preparedness, such as at least one hurricane kit in every coastal home, and well-planned evacuation procedures are going to be extremely important, because we've all just witnessed a morbid example of what happens when even a fraction of a city's people becomes arrogant in the face of mother nature, evacuations are ordered far too late, and aftermath operations are poorly planned.

Complacency is a disease. Maybe Katrina is the cure.


Pointing out the light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel,
-Jack Pierce (Beam)

[JtSmarts]

We need more positivity around here, hopefully what you're suggesting becomes reality.

[blueeyes_austin]

I hold this hope in my mind...that we rebuild NO into what it could be. Scrape the projects and decaying homes and replace them with decent places to live. Install a proper transit system. Make the jewles of the City shine brightly again.

It is something to hope for.

[soonertwister]

Beam182, your post is very outstanding, and crystalizes some things I've been thinking about for more than a couple of days now.

People who say that New Orleans should be abandoned don't understand the heart and soul of the American people. We have the possibility of re-creating a great city in a new reality here, and for that we should be excited.

We put man on the moon, showed the world the most amazing pictures of our cosmos. We have been world leaders throughout our existence.

While lives are being rescued, we need to keep our focus on the far term. New Orleans can be the new great place, all it takes is our will as Americans to make it happen. We could build a thousand great pyramids a year if that is what we wanted to do, restoring New Orleans to a jewel is trivial in comparison.

Our people have been responding to this crisis across the country in unprecedented passion, even if the dollars have been slow to come in. We are only starting to understand the scale of this tragedy, but we are Americans, and we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and go back to work. Katrina was a big blip on our plans, but we must never be deterred from who and what we are destined to be.

[nolabelplez]

I really don't understand. Would the New New Orleans be able to keep history from repeating itself? I really hope they rebuild somewhere that is above sea level.

[Brent]

I really don't understand. Would the New New Orleans be able to keep history from repeating itself? I really hope they rebuild somewhere that is above sea level.

They need to build it higher... stupid idea to put it below sea level IMO. Now, we're paying for it.

But they should rebuild it...

[beam182]

I really don't understand. Would the New New Orleans be able to keep history from repeating itself? I really hope they rebuild somewhere that is above sea level.

I'm no engineer, so I'm not going to speculate, but it seems feasible to me that they could build a far stronger and higher levee system. This was supposed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, and it did not. Perhaps now that they have seen the true result of levee failure, the new system would be superior.

[Cookiely]

I really don't understand. Would the New New Orleans be able to keep history from repeating itself? I really hope they rebuild somewhere that is above sea level.

I'm no engineer, so I'm not going to speculate, but it seems feasible to me that they could build a far stronger and higher levee system. This was supposed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, and it did not. Perhaps now that they have seen the true result of levee failure, the new system would be superior.

Now that the deed is done why have a city with a levee system at all. It doesn't make sense to put people in danger again. A beautiful New "New Orleans" on much higher ground. Leave the old New Orleans as a buffer against future canes.