http://journal.thelouvertureproject.org/archives/hurricane-katrina-new-orleans-and-haitian-history/ Discovery and Discussion about Haiti, wikis, and the Haitian Revolution of 1791 - 1804 Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:27:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://journal.thelouvertureproject.org/archives/hurricane-katrina-new-orleans-and-haitian-history/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Jay Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:27:55 +0000 http://journal.thelouvertureproject.org/?p=142#comment-30 Without specifying the dollar cost and sources, it is easy to say there are cultural and historic motivations to rebuild New Orleans at its original location. It was a charming city. The results of this storm make plain to more-objecive non-Louisiana taxpayers, many of whom have lived or visited there, that same-site rebuilding would be foolish in the extreme. The economic base of the city has eroded over the past 40 years or so. Those who left didn't go to low-lying places. Who is to fund affordable housing for even half of the 500,000 people who lived there before Katrina? Where will the jobs come from for returned refugees, and when? How would rebuilding in this flood bowl be equitable to myriad other communities which have learned that you don't rebuild in a flood plain? I can't imagine being convinced that the city should be rebuilt where it was without a thorough feasibility study from the Dutch, who alone have calculated the risks and costs and been willing to spend the time and enormous sums and created the cutting-edge engineering to make living below sea level work. Fickle Congress and the Corps of Engineers need a reality check. Without specifying the dollar cost and sources, it is easy to say there are cultural and historic motivations to rebuild New Orleans at its original location. It was a charming city. The results of this storm make plain to more-objecive non-Louisiana taxpayers, many of whom have lived or visited there, that same-site rebuilding would be foolish in the extreme. The economic base of the city has eroded over the past 40 years or so. Those who left didn’t go to low-lying places. Who is to fund affordable housing for even half of the 500,000 people who lived there before Katrina? Where will the jobs come from for returned refugees, and when? How would rebuilding in this flood bowl be equitable to myriad other communities which have learned that you don’t rebuild in a flood plain? I can’t imagine being convinced that the city should be rebuilt where it was without a thorough feasibility study from the Dutch, who alone have calculated the risks and costs and been willing to spend the time and enormous sums and created the cutting-edge engineering to make living below sea level work. Fickle Congress and the Corps of Engineers need a reality check.

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