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The end of New Orleans?


colin

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I'm originally from Metairie, and my family has deep roots in Louisiana. I had an uncle working at Tulane who lived in New Orleans and an aunt who lived in Metairie right on the canal where the levee broke (on the west side though). I haven't been able to contact them, but they were both smart enough to get out when they had a chance.

I've been intently watching the news coverage from afar in my adopted desert homeland, and I find it often difficult to imagine the extent of the flooding, and difficult to watch what's happening there. I've been in my fair share of floods while living in Houston, and one of my first memories is from living in Kenner when the pumps failed, but nothing compares to this.

I can't help thinking at this point that New Orleans, as a city, will not survive this. It's already been established that people will not be able to return to the East Bank for at least three months. But after that time, who will actually return? Especially after some of the personal ordeals we've watched on television.

Very few in this country have the means to continue an existence without a steady pay check for a week, let alone a month. I have the feeling at this point that people will try very hard to move on to somewhere else and find a job and establish a new life, and that when people are finally allowed to return to the area, there will be a significant decrease in population due to this pseudo-exodus. I know that the government intends to offer relief, but there are many people who wouldn't accept this as it can be seen as a form of welfare. Pride is typically strong amongst southerners, and New Orleans residents will be unlikely to accept charity if they see that there are others in more dyre need.

Also, New Orleans has rarely seemed an attractive city for businesses to locate themselves in, and this event can only push that much further. I imagine that many companies and businesses that are currently located in New Orleans will leave. The cost of rebuilding will outweigh the cost of moving, and they will most likely have little choice.

This is not to say that New Orleans will be completely wiped out. The city will always hold a distinct mystique in pop culture not echoed in other city. This will pull many back, but how many?

I'm deeply saddened at this point, but I can't help feeling curious about the final outcome of the whole ordeal. Many have compared this to 9-11, which actually ended up benefiting NYC by bringing in even more tourists. However, NYC, even Manhattan, was not completely wiped out by the attacks. New Orleans is virtually gone. The question is now, will it ever come back?

I'm curious if any of you, especially Louisiana residents, have any thoughts on this.

-colin gremillion

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Will some people leave and not come back? Yes. But, I dont think New Orleans is not going to rebuild and thrive. Too many people love the city and think of it as a member of the family. It is also a national treasure so they will get plenty of federal aid and donations. I think the key here is to not despair but to get to work. First, clean out the looters, second get rid of the water, third rebuild. It will happen. It is not in the American character to give up easily.

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I don't think it will be built back. Bush is too occupied with fight his war in Iraq and rebuilding all the cities in that country to be worried about rebuilding a city where 30% of the population lives below the poverty level. They might save the tourist areas and will certainly save the oil production stuff, but that is about it. IMO.

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Its all about politics because the government is the one that is going to have to redirect the resources of this country to rebuild this area. If left to private development it will never happen.

I am dismayed that Bush's answer to this problem is to invite Clinton and Bush Sr. to ask American's for handouts. This is the richest country on the earth and the way we respond to a crisis of this magnitude is to ask for handouts? What about the $400 billion that has been spent in Iraq so far. What is going on in NO is tragic considering that it is Thursday, and we still have not managed to even drop any food in for these poor people. Congress came back in two special sessions to vote in emergency measures to try and stop the feeding tube from being removed from Terry Schiavo. Where are they now? The priorities in the USA are really f*cked up these days.

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Its all about politics because the government is the one that is going to have to redirect the resources of this country to rebuild this area.  If left to private development it will never happen.

I am dismayed that Bush's answer to this problem is to invite Clinton and Bush Sr. to ask American's for handouts.  This is the richest country on the earth and the way we respond to a crisis of this magnitude is to ask for handouts?  What about the $400 billion that has been spent in Iraq so far.  What is going on in NO is tragic considering that it is Thursday, and we still have not managed to even drop any food in for these poor people.  Congress came back in two special sessions to vote in emergency measures to try and stop the feeding tube from being removed from Terry Schiavo.  Where are they now?  The priorities in the USA are really f*cked up these days.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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Interesting fact: the Bush administration cut back 72 million dollars from the Corp of Army engineers for the city of NO alone. And of course, a lot of the national guard is busy serving in Iraq.

I think the situation in NO is going to make a major blow in the LA economy and USA economy.

Gas prices are raising like crazy.

What does it mean for Mr. Bush? More horrible Nixon-level poll ratings. Not even Fox News (or the rest of the corporate media) can whitewash this anymore, which is quite impressive.

But the joke's on us. Bush won the 2004 election. We have him for another 3 years.

NO will take years to recover. Probably decades. Pretty much the whole city is underwater. Practically everyone's home is underwater. How will they bring it back to business as usual. If your house survived the hurricane, does it even matter? Chances are, your job will not be there when you get back.

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Check out this story and the video. It's important you check out the video.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/

Isn't this ridiculous? These people are the forgotten. Truth is, they don't have the money, so they're not worth much.

No food, no water.

No protection at night.

The cameraman said he saw two people die in front of him. A baby was almost dead while he was filming.

People were dying....people were just dead lying around.

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I don't think it will be built back.  Bush is too occupied with fight his war in Iraq and rebuilding all the cities in that country to be worried about rebuilding a city where 30% of the population lives below the poverty level.  They might save the tourist areas and will certainly save the oil production stuff,  but that is about it.  IMO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:blink::sick: Good night, we just can't get over our petty differences to focus on the task at hand?! This country is in serious trouble if people are going to resort to comments like this whenever something bad happens.

You want to talk politics? How about the complete incompetance of the NO and LA leadership? Did you know that it took them several days before declaring martial law?!?!? When Hugo came in '89, martial law was declared the very next day to prevent looting! And it worked!!!! How about the incompetance of city and state leaders in getting adequate levees built? Like it or not, that is a LOCAL concern and it is up to local leaders to initiate it. Look at my hometown's Cooper River bridge...the majority of the initiative and funding was from city and state leadership. NO and LA leaders knew for years that they needed better levees, and there was not a push to get it done. Now, they are paying for their sheer incompetance.

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One big problem is the ice is melting in both polar regions. The oceans is rising. Not only New Orlean , but many cities on the coast will have trouble.

I have seen photos north side of Alaska on the Artic Ocean and Beaufort Sea, it is all water now, 20 years ago it was ice.

New orlean will have to build levees that are twice as high as they are now, just to survive.

The Gulf water is real warm now, and the hurricane season is half over. It may not be all over. What happens in the next 3 months with the weather will determin what what can happen in New Oleans. I hope it will survive, but I don't think it will be as big as it was before the hurricane. It looks the housing covered with water will have to torn down and replace.

Looks like there will be a lot of Habitat housing coming up for the poor. Get your saws, hammers, and other tools ready, and join Habitat for Humanity. I sure it will play a big part in rebuilding New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama. http://www.habitat-nola.org/

katrina_banner.jpg

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Interesting fact: the Bush administration cut back 72 million dollars from the Corp of Army engineers for the city of NO alone.  And of course, a lot of the national guard is busy serving in Iraq. 

I think the situation in NO is going to make a major blow in the LA economy and USA economy. 

Gas prices are raising like crazy.

What does it mean for Mr. Bush? More horrible Nixon-level poll ratings.  Not even Fox News (or the rest of the corporate media) can whitewash this anymore, which is quite impressive. 

But the joke's on us.  Bush won the 2004 election.  We have him for another 3 years. 

NO will take years to recover.  Probably decades.  Pretty much the whole city is underwater.  Practically everyone's home is underwater.  How will they bring it back to business as usual.  If your house survived the hurricane, does it even matter?  Chances are, your job will not be there when you get back.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:huh: WTF?? Like I said, if nobody can put aside their political differences, we are in serious trouble. Everybody better quit freaking out, pointing the finger, and focus on what needs to be done...helping the people of AL, MS, and LA.

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Oh please. This isn't another you're either "with us or against us" mentality is it?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but things just aren't that simple.

Politics and funding play huge parts of the rebuilding of the city.

Obviously, I'm going to donate to the relief organizations and do what I can in my power to help, but I'm still going to be outspoken about horrible policies that are detrimental to the whole situation. I'm not going act like nothing is wrong with the current way of governance.

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Oh please.  This isn't another you're either "with us or against us" mentality is it?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but things just aren't that simple.

Politics and funding play huge parts of the rebuilding of the city. 

Obviously, I'm going to donate to the relief organizations and do what I can in my power to help, but I'm still going to be outspoken about horrible policies that are detrimental to the whole situation.  I'm not going act like nothing is wrong with the current way of governance.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, it's more like quit trying to divide everybody and stick with the issue at hand.

If you want to complain, then complain about New Orleans' and Louisiana's governance, because they are the ones who have mismanaged many aspects of this disaster. Federal politics and whose in office in the White House have an insignificant role in the events taking place right now.

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Interesting fact: the Bush administration cut back 72 million dollars from the Corp of Army engineers for the city of NO alone.  And of course, a lot of the national guard is busy serving in Iraq. 

I think the situation in NO is going to make a major blow in the LA economy and USA economy. 

Gas prices are raising like crazy.

What does it mean for Mr. Bush? More horrible Nixon-level poll ratings.  Not even Fox News (or the rest of the corporate media) can whitewash this anymore, which is quite impressive. 

But the joke's on us.  Bush won the 2004 election.  We have him for another 3 years. 

NO will take years to recover.  Probably decades.  Pretty much the whole city is underwater.  Practically everyone's home is underwater.  How will they bring it back to business as usual.  If your house survived the hurricane, does it even matter?  Chances are, your job will not be there when you get back.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This puts more than Bush behind the 8 ball.

http://www.unknowncountry.com/journal/?id=192

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I don't think it will be built back.  Bush is too occupied with fight his war in Iraq and rebuilding all the cities in that country to be worried about rebuilding a city where 30% of the population lives below the poverty level.  They might save the tourist areas and will certainly save the oil production stuff,  but that is about it.  IMO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have to agree mostly, I can't ever imagine it being the same again.

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You've people have got to be kidding me. The city will be revived and the federal government will play a huge role in it. The mass rebuilding of the city and I-10 will provide hundreds of jobs and the oil production companies, the power companies, DOT, the city government, hospitals, etc. and ports will have to have employees to work for them. The tourist industry will still be there and more visitors will probably come to get a glimpse of this city because of this event. All of these places require employees and employees have to live somewhere. Its quite illogical to believe that all this will dry up or that one million people will commute from Baton Rouge or from the north side of Lake Pontchartrain on a daily basis.

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What does it mean for Mr. Bush? More horrible Nixon-level poll ratings.  Not even Fox News (or the rest of the corporate media) can whitewash this anymore, which is quite impressive. 

But the joke's on us.  Bush won the 2004 election.  We have him for another 3 years. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sad but true, Fox News cannot even cover for him anymore.. HA HA!!! :D We are stuck with him though for the next three years. :( I pray for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

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No, it's more like quit trying to divide everybody and stick with the issue at hand.

If you want to complain, then complain about New Orleans' and Louisiana's governance, because they are the ones who have mismanaged many aspects of this disaster. Federal politics and whose in office in the White House have an insignificant role in the events taking place right now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was with you up until the last sentence, and while I LOATHE political discussions that bring about nothing but namecalling, I will say that Bush is holding the chips and it's his move. Thus-far, I've been impressed with how he's handling it and gravely disappointed with how the NO/LA governments have handled it. MS and AL are doing what they can, but frankly they're well out of the limelight -_-

I keep hearing the LA governor get on TV and cry her little heart out and say "pray for us". All the prayer in the world won't do sh*t. Ask for money, federal assistance, and get out of your cozy little Baton Rouge office and do something for God'sake beyond getting on CNN all day long asking for God's help. I don't think God has cable, honey.

I saw someone say that seeing Bush 1 and Clinton is a bad thing (misquoting but the general drift)... they raised many many millions of dollars for the tsunami and if they can do the same here, then why the hell shouldn't they? Saying "we're the richest country in the world, we shouldn't ask for handouts", well why not? We give out handouts all the time, I think it's time we collected from places like China, India, the European countries (Marshall Plan comes to mind).

I don't want to be pessimistic, but I don't think NO will ever be what it was and maybe that's good. It'll be different and better and maybe the rampant criminals that have raised hell in the city will still be in jail by the time NO gets back to where it was. It won't be an overnight thing, but it will change the city and region. In the meantime, we have to buck up as a nation and do what we can to help. Don't scoff at charity work because it really can make a big impact. And at any rate, the government is doing what it can with limited resources in a war time. Debate the war on your own clock ya'll because it's not really up for debate.

However, back to the main topic... this has and will continue to cripple New Orleans for years. Gulfport and Biloxi are virtually totally gone now. It will be probably at least a decade before they begin to resemble what they did a week ago or even longer. Hopefully New Orleans in particular will get back the good that was lost and knock out the bad (crime) that has and continues to plague the city. I'm guardedly optimistic about the long-range future, but the next 10 or so years are going to be tremendously difficult. And frankly, if one more person whines about gas prices I'm going to jump out the window. So what you pay $3 a gallon? If you have a home and you're alive quit whining because several thousand people just lost their lives and many many more thousands are homeless. Puts it in perspective.

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No, it's more like quit trying to divide everybody and stick with the issue at hand.

If you want to complain, then complain about New Orleans' and Louisiana's governance, because they are the ones who have mismanaged many aspects of this disaster. Federal politics and whose in office in the White House have an insignificant role in the events taking place right now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's no argument that we need to help. But what's the point in just helping? Obviously, policy affects how effective or uneffective we are at helping the situation. Admittedly, not all the fault belongs to the White House.

But I don't really blame the looters stealing for survival either.

What if a totally different class, say, rich, white republicans had been trapped in the city, instead of majorly poor, African Americans?

And the RNC sent out an email today of it's biggest concern: tax cuts for the super-rich:

Dear XXX,

For the last four years, President Bush and Republicans in Congress have championed a pro-growth agenda that has brought tax relief to millions of Americans. Historic legislation in 2001 and 2003 put America on the track to economic growth, and today our economic outlook is bright. There is more work to do, however, to ensure that tax-paying Americans can keep more of their own hard-earned income.

When they return from their August recess, Senators will consider a key issue: elimination of the death tax. The death tax is an unfair double taxation of income, which hurts America's small businesses and farms and threatens job growth. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats are working hard to oppose our efforts to eliminate this unfair tax.

Will you help bring tax relief to more hard-working Americans? Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to eliminate the death tax.

Our party's opportunity agenda means allowing families to keep more of the money they earn. The historic tax relief in the President's first term was only the beginning. Americans deserve a tax code that is simple and fair. The Senate needs to do its part by making tax relief permanent and burying the death tax forever.

Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to vote to eliminate the death tax!

Make your voice heard on this important issue. Call Senator George V. Voinovich. Express your support for tax relief and economic opportunity.

Elimination of the death tax would be a victory for fairness and job creation. Working together, we can help eliminate the burden of the death tax once and for all.

Thank you,

Ken Mehlman,

RNC Chairman

edit: //

What major thing has Bush done besides as Bush Sr. and Clinton to ask for some donations? Sure, he's called out some national guard troops, but who wouldn't?

Also, what exactly does the local government have the resources to do?

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"But I don't really blame the looters stealing for survival either."

Keep in mind these are probably the same folk that steal outside of disaster scenarios as well :angry: I'm not saying it isn't a dreadful, deadly situation, but the people shooting at helicopters and National Guard convoys are the ones preventing aid from getting there. I hope they realize that before they starve to death. :angry:

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New Orleans is such a wonderful city, full of history. I hope that they will rebuild and be better than ever. I hate the fact that so many are referring in past tense to N.O. "It was such a great city" etc. Why should we think N.O. won't return to it's legacy again in the future? I realize that the task of rebuilding will be enormous and expensive. However, others have rebuilt to former glory.

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No. There are perfectly law abiding citizens who have as a last resort started looting.

These are not the same people as those were stealing shoes and guns in the beginning (according to the MSNBC journalists), these are people who waited for help, didn't get any, and brought matters into their own hands.

Like I said before, people were just dying around the cameraman from dehydration.

Obviously, the idiots shooting at helicopters aren't helping the situation.

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No.  There are perfectly law abiding citizens who have as a last resort started looting.

These are not the same people as those were stealing shoes and guns in the beginning (according to the MSNBC journalists), these are people who waited for help, didn't get any, and brought matters into their own hands.

Like I said before, people were just dying around the cameraman from dehydration. 

Obviously, the idiots shooting at helicopters aren't helping the situation.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If I see a man carrying a trash can full of Ladies' Foot Locker merchandise, that doesn't cut it as stealing for survival IMHO.

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I was with you up until the last sentence, and while I LOATHE political discussions that bring about nothing but namecalling, I will say that Bush is holding the chips and it's his move.  Thus-far, I've been impressed with how he's handling it and gravely disappointed with how the NO/LA governments have handled it.  MS and AL are doing what they can, but frankly they're well out of the limelight  -_-

I keep hearing the LA governor get on TV and cry her little heart out and say "pray for us".  All the prayer in the world won't do sh*t.  Ask for money, federal assistance, and get out of your cozy little Baton Rouge office and do something for God'sake beyond getting on CNN all day long asking for God's help.  I don't think God has cable, honey.

I saw someone say that seeing Bush 1 and Clinton is a bad thing (misquoting but the general drift)... they raised many many millions of dollars for the tsunami and if they can do the same here, then why the hell shouldn't they?  Saying "we're the richest country in the world, we shouldn't ask for handouts", well why not?  We give out handouts all the time, I think it's time we collected from places like China, India, the European countries (Marshall Plan comes to mind). 

I don't want to be pessimistic, but I don't think NO will ever be what it was and maybe that's good.  It'll be different and better and maybe the rampant criminals that have raised hell in the city will still be in jail by the time NO gets back to where it was.  It won't be an overnight thing, but it will change the city and region.  In the meantime, we have to buck up as a nation and do what we can to help.  Don't scoff at charity work because it really can make a big impact.  And at any rate, the government is doing what it can with limited resources in a war time.  Debate the war on your own clock ya'll because it's not really up for debate. 

However, back to the main topic... this has and will continue to cripple New Orleans for years.  Gulfport and Biloxi are virtually totally gone now.  It will be probably at least a decade before they begin to resemble what they did a week ago or even longer.  Hopefully New Orleans in particular will get back the good that was lost and knock out the bad (crime) that has and continues to plague the city.  I'm guardedly optimistic about the long-range future, but the next 10 or so years are going to be tremendously difficult.  And frankly, if one more person whines about gas prices I'm going to jump out the window.  So what you pay $3 a gallon?  If you have a home and you're alive quit whining because several thousand people just lost their lives and many many more thousands are homeless.  Puts it in perspective.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said, man. I think you misunderstood my last sentence of my previous post. I have been impressed with how Bush is handling the situation now, but I was responding to the political hacks who want to blame Bush for everything, including the disaster today. I was referring to the fact that many other local and state governments have more responsibility for what has taken place (flooding) than Bush and his administration. Again, good post!

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