Wow. Just saw this article. (Hat Tip: Kate) My dh was saying yesterday or the day before that the main reason New Orleans has been able to weather storms in the past but not now is because it's sinking. So that fact didn't take me by surprise. But some of the speculative points made in the article (which was written in December of 2000, I might add) have now become reality. It's eery.
I don't think it's "on the verge of" it anymore. :-(
Louisiana's marshlands, the only buffer for hurricanes that come out of the Gulf, are slipping into the ocean at an alarming rate. New search indicates that just one major hurricane could put New Orleans under water.
New research by the U.S. Geological Survey, however, indicates that New Orleans is sinking faster than many realize and could be under water within 50 years. The city is facing a series of issues--disappearing wetlands that protect from hurricanes, levees that are too low to hold back flood waters, rising water tables, to name a few--that if not addressed soon could have New Orleans suffering the same fate as Atlantis.(That's exactly what I told dh - we may have just witnessed New Orleans become New Atlantis!)
Dramatic, yes. But not unlikely, according to Shea Penland, geologist and professor at the University of New Orleans. "When we get the big hurricane and there are 10,000 people dead, the city government's been relocated to the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, refugee camps have been set up and there $10 billion plus in losses, what then?" he asks. (emphasis added)
And hurricanes are still a concern. Scientists say that a hurricane of category 4 or higher would devastate the city, and the current levees and drainage measures would be rendered useless.
Shoring up homes has become a thriving business in the city, according to Schwaner. As homes list and sink, companies jack up the homes or provide fill to even the ground. All of the efforts seem like a bandage approach, thinks Penland. "It would cost a billion or two dollars to make the levee 30 feet high. A major flood with loss of life could cost $10 billion. What's wrong with this picture? If we know the worst-case scenario is billions and it would take a billion or two to prevent it, why don't we do it? I don't think anyone's thinking about it."
If it were left to residents and city officials, the status quo would prevail. One city official says of the flooding and subsidence, "We are below sea level and we do get floods sometimes, but it's not a real serious problem. You can still purchase flood insurance." Another city official expressed faith in the current levee system.
Penland's frustration with this attitude is apparent. "These are things I've been preaching for a number of years. This town has never planned ahead. They've always reacted and not pro-acted."
But Penland says there is no other choice. "We need to bite the bullet as a society and say that we have a problem. Our coastline has 40 percent of our nation's wetlands and 80 percent of the loss occurs here. New Orleans needs a wake-up call. The city is on the verge of becoming extinct."
I don't think it's "on the verge of" it anymore. :-(
