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Klarinet Archive - Posting 000027.txt from 2005/09

From: "kevin fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] New Orleans Evacuations
Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 00:14:20 -0400

Nancy Buckman asked:

<<<What I want to know is why we continue to build on a flood plain? And
why is ANYONE planning to rebuild there? When you play with fire you get
burned. I know that the City of New Orleans can't be disassembled (even
though Katrina did a pretty good job of disassembling most of it) and moved
quickly. But why rebuild there instead of moving and rebuilding in a safer
place. Where that would be, I don't know, but anywhere is better than
there.>>>

New Orleans is an interesting place. It's start was the lowest (farthest
south) point in the Mississippi river delta where an ocean-going sailing
ship could dock. The corner of the Mississippi and the ocean (Gulf) was a
natural crossroads - which led to the most eclectic culture imaginable.
(The combination of African and European musical traditions sprouted jazz,
for example. And the food's even better).

The old downtown (by the French Quarter) was actually above sea level many
years ago. As more people showed up, more land had to be reclaimed to
accommodate them. And the old city proceeded to sink in the mud; efforts to
shore up the levees only deepened the problem.

Three hundred years later, it's easy to criticize. One could make the same
claim to most of The Netherlands, also on reclaimed land.

Rebuild? I hope so. I also hope the soul of that great city - probably the
most "European" city in the Americas - can be preserved as well.

kjf

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