On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 20:07:07 +0000, Moderate Mammal
New Orleans is eight feet below sea level. Cat5 hurricanes have an 18 foot storm surge. Do the math.
--------snip---------- A False Environment?
The area that has since been drained by the canal system includes most of the present metropolitan area of New Orleans, including almost all of Orleans Parish (except the most eastern portions of that parish), the northern half of Jefferson Parish to an area just south of the cities of Westwego and Gretna, the northeastern corner of St. Charles Parish, the western portion of St. Bernard Parish, and the northern tip of Plaquermines Parish. Today, the series of canals and pumping stations continue to keep the land dry. Throughout the rainy season (which is nearly 3-4 of the year), they pump mbuttive quanbreasties of water out of the area into Lake Pontchartrain. In spite of this, the wetness of Louisiana proves, from time to time, to be too much for the pumps, and floods occur. However, not since 1927 has New Orleans flooded because of the height of the Mississippi or the lake. Added to the pumps' strength is the Bonnie Carre Spillway, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Charles Parish. Through this spillway, floodwaters of the Mississippi can be diverted into Lake Pontchartrain, sparing the city of New Orleans from river floods. Most of the floods of the 20th century have been due to sustained periods of heavy rainfall and hurricanes. Yet, as beneficial as this system is to the city, inevitably it will spell New Orleans' doom. The levee system that has been built along the river, coupled with the canal system to keep the interior of the city dry, prevent the land from being replenished by the annual spring floods. As a result, the land will continue to sink until eventually there will be nothing to stop the waters of the Gulf to rush back upon the fragile land. In addition, the fresh water that is pumped into the brackish wetlands surrounding the city is creating an ecological disaster. When the Bonnie Carre Spillway is used in order to spare the city of New Orleans from floods, the consequences to the coastal estuary system is profound. As a result, in order to save itself from the waters surrounding it, the city of New Orleans is slowly destroying its own environment. The final rest knoll of the city may very well come from the river itself. Scientists and environmentalists know that the Mississippi is trying to change its course that will bypbutt the city in favor of the shorter route to the Gulf through the Atchafalaya basin. So far, the Corps of Engineers has prevented the river from doing this. But, one day, it will happen, perhaps following a direct hit from a hurricane. As late summer and early fall approach every year (hurricane season), New Orleans stands with the threat that it will lose its own lifeline. No canal system and no levee system will prevent the disaster that will follow.
-- Regards, Curly ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bush voters: www.curlysurmudgeon.com-documents-militaryenlistment.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------------------
