Steve Chapman: Why rebuild the Big Easy?

the billions wasted there will be lost when the next mega hurricane blows thru and floods it all again.. maybe then we will wise up and stop trying to build a city below sea level in hurricane alley..duh!

whats funny is i live in new orleans and agree

California has had more earthquakes in the last 200 years than New Orleans has had thunder storms. Yet, no one says do not rebuild after an earth quake??? Southern California burns each summer millions of dollars of homes and kills many people, yet no one says do not build back. Alsaska has had terrible earthquakes, Iowa floods, so too do all the states along the mighty Mississippi River. Florida has had several horrible hurricanes in the last 10 years, Washington DC is built in a swamp, and the snow storms in the north east kill and damage property. Yet no one says why rebuild Florida or Buffalo? New Orleans has had only one horrible hurricane, Florida and Mississippi have had more yet no one has posted let Florida go back to the alligators and swamps? Hurricane Andrew was horrible, Camille destroyed much of the Mississippi coast. If you look at geography many coastal towns will be washed away by any tidal surge greater than 15 feet. Yet no one says do not build on the west coast, east coast, or Florida coast. In fact much of Virginia and Maryland would be washed away from a 15 foot tidal surge. Washington DC would flood if a hurricane hit it through the bay and Potomac. Yet no one has condemed building in those swamps and coatal areas. So let's be fair and say no coastal area less than 12 feet elevation should have homes towns, or cities, and see how many places have to be moved to higher ground. Most of Washington DC would have to be moved as it is as low as New Orleans.

Rebuild? Yes I say ... we rebuild New OeLeans to give Gaia-the-*itch a good eye-poke ! Buy an entire S. American MOUNTAIN and move-it-north.

My sister lost her home along with all of her neighbors in Hurricane Isabel. It went through North Carolina and Virginia. It costs millions in damages, and killed many people in 2003. Everyone has since rebuilt. North Carolina is hit by hurricanes often and they rebuild over and over. So if you tell New Orleans not to rebuild then everyone who gets hit by a hurricane should not rebuild too. There is a list of hurricanes that have hit the US coast and the damages, more damages are in Florida over a number of years than in New Orleans so why just New Orleans gets attacked?????? RACISM I think is the problem, CNN covered only the poor blacks who got caught in the city so CNN put a Black Face on Katrina and the racists come out to attack New Orleans and not the other areas that get hit by hurricanes more often. People who attack New orleans are so mis-informed as to what happened and only remember CNN and the 10,000 or so people who were in the Center, not the other 450,000 who actually left the city. No one followed the thousands of white faces who drove away the day before and stayed away until it was safe to return.

Um, no one ever had to rebuild buffalo...

In 1977 there was the worse snow storm in Buffalo. It closed the city for weeks, damaged homes, parks, businesses, stranded cars and people. Thousands were without electricity for weeks, the Federal Government sent in planes and troops to help with the disaster. Since then more snow storms come from the Lake effect, and paralize the city yet it seems people love to live there in 6 feet of snow and it happens all the time but 1977 was the worse time I can remember.

the problem is not racism,as some posts suggest,(i'm sick of hearing about race)seems like the people in new orleans want someone else to do everything for them,and people are sick of that,you can drive through mississippi and alabama (who were hit just as hard) they have already rebuilt,so whats the problem with new orleans? if the people there want to rebuild,then rebuild,but quit whining,and waiting for someone else to do it

mississippi and alabama (who were hit just as hard) they have already rebuilt,so whats the problem with new orleans?

Again mis-information. New Orleans had several feet of water that stayed in the city for several weeks from a 23 foot tidal surge that toped the levees. Alabama never flooded at all and had minor wind damage. Mississippi got hit hard in several areas along its coast and some towns have yet to be rebuilt. Those are small towns with small populations, nothing like a city with 480,000 people. New Orleans is in fact 80 per cent or better rebuilt. It has had several major events since the storm, college football, professional football, conventions, music festivals, parades, etc. No one in New Orleans is waiting for someone else to rebuild it. Some low lying areas on the swampy side of the city are still unbuilt, and maybe should not be rebuilt. Every utility in New Orleans was destroyed by Katrina and the toxic flood waters that destroyed transformers, pumps, generators, electrical equipment. Utility poles were all blown over by 125 miles per hour winds and wires destroyed. All had to be replaced. Some had to be made new because of the large numbers destroyed. One cannot buy large electrical equipment at a local hardware store. Gas lines burst, streets caved in, all those things had to be redone in a large city of almost a half million people. Some roads along the Mississippi coast are still in need of major repair too. The bridge over the Bay St. Louis was just completed this spring. Neighborhoods in the towns of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Pass Christian are not rebuilt and may not be rebuilt due to the new rules on insurance. Anyone who has visited New Orleans can tell you the major areas of the city are in great shape. Of the 480,000 about 380,000 are back in homes working like most Americans. Some of the poor areas in low areas are not rebuilt. Of the 480,00 people of New Orleans only a small percentage stayed behind. Only a small percentage lived in the poor neighborhoods, only the few thousand at the Convention Center were shown on TV, not the almost half a million that left the city as told to do. People who base opinions on urban myths, racism, bad TV coverage, and misguided forum posts should read more and get out and see the world. Especially visit the city of New Orleans to see what is going on and how things are and not post bad information.

Fig Street Studio wrote:

mississippi and alabama (who were hit just as hard) they have already rebuilt,so whats the problem with new orleans?
Again mis-information. New Orleans had several feet of water that stayed in the city for several weeks from a 23 foot tidal surge that toped the levees. Alabama never flooded at all and had minor wind damage. Mississippi got hit hard in several areas along its coast and some towns have yet to be rebuilt. Those are small towns with small populations, nothing like a city with 480,000 people. New Orleans is in fact 80 per cent or better rebuilt. It has had several major events since the storm, college football, professional football, conventions, music festivals, parades, etc. No one in New Orleans is waiting for someone else to rebuild it. Some low lying areas on the swampy side of the city are still unbuilt, and maybe should not be rebuilt. Every utility in New Orleans was destroyed by Katrina and the toxic flood waters that destroyed transformers, pumps, generators, electrical equipment. Utility poles were all blown over by 125 miles per hour winds and wires destroyed. All had to be replaced. Some had to be made new because of the large numbers destroyed. One cannot buy large electrical equipment at a local hardware store. Gas lines burst, streets caved in, all those things had to be redone in a large city of almost a half million people. Some roads along the Mississippi coast are still in need of major repair too. The bridge over the Bay St. Louis was just completed this spring. Neighborhoods in the towns of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Pass Christian are not rebuilt and may not be rebuilt due to the new rules on insurance. Anyone who has visited New Orleans can tell you the major areas of the city are in great shape. Of the 480,000 about 380,000 are back in homes working like most Americans. Some of the poor areas in low areas are not rebuilt. Of the 480,00 people of New Orleans only a small percentage stayed behind. Only a small percentage lived in the poor neighborhoods, only the few thousand at the Convention Center were shown on TV, not the almost half a million that left the city as told to do. People who base opinions on urban myths, racism, bad TV coverage, and misguided forum posts should read more and get out and see the world. Especially visit the city of New Orleans to see what is going on and how things are and not post bad information.

was in new orleans a few months ago,still trash everywhere, blue tarps on the roofs everywhere, buildings looking like skeletons,but i'm tired of hearing that we haven't done enough as a nation for this city,we have done more than enough and it's time to put this behind us and go on.