New Orleans rebuild?

Question

New Orleans was devastated by Katrina because the leviees broke causing flooding since NO is below sea-level. There are many parts of NO that have not even begun to rebuild. Why not clear sections of NO and use it as a landfill to raise the area to a level above sea-level so it won't flood again?

Much of San Francisco is built on a former landfill so the idea is not unrealistic. It would take years to raise it to that level but may be a way to have a "national" landfill so other areas won't have to build them.

What about using a landfill as the levee and building it from the current coast outwards leaving the city in a valley.

Joan: Then why rebuild at all.

Answer 1

NO is always going to be a problem. Reason being is that all the land there is basically silt from the Mississippi river. No matter how much "fill" you put there and no matter how high the levees are, the ground underneath is unstable. It's just a matter of time for a category 5 hurricane to hit (Katrina was only a 3).

People need to accept nature. It makes NO sense to rebuild ... it should have never been built up to begin with.


Actually, Barry is wrong. Katrina was a Cat 5 in the ocean, but dropped to a Cat 3 when it hit land. It was not the strongest hurricane to hit the US ... it was the 3rd strongest. Before you give me another thumbs down, check your facts. Here's the reference. Please don't post inaccurate answers to people's questions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

Answer 2

How much garbage would you like to dump into the ocean as you build this landfill? San Francisco did their environmentally inappropriate thing before anyone knew there was a problem. I remember for years how the bay smelled like rotten eggs anywhere you went around it. Now when they have a decent earthquake it sets up a process called liquefaction where everything built on that landfill starts to sink into quicksand. New Orleans is like Venice, Italy. You ain't gonna stop Mother Nature when she decides she wants to take something back. That's life folks.

Answer 3

Because people are still going to rebuild it. many homes are still there and can be lived in with about a couple weeks of work. using it as a land fill would ruin these homes even more. and when it gets rained on the wash coming off it will flow into the ocean because it is below sea level.

Answer 4

You ask good questions. It may seem like a drastic approach, but we really need some creative thinking about this. New Orleans is not an isolated incident. It's just the first. Most of our coastal cities are in jeopardy, and we need to do some serious thinking and planning about how to protect them.

Answer 5

Given what's going on with global warming, there is only one reasonable solution.

Move New Orleans inland far enough to get it 50 feet or so above sea level. No I don't think the ocean is going to rise that much, but you have to deal with storms.

Money spent building stuff at the present sea level (or below) is money wasted.

Answer 6

I think we should move it into the National Park system preserve only Burbon st. and return the rest to the wild. Think of the wetlands for all the animals! And it would save Billions!

Danni

Answer 7

The government doesnt care about New Orleans because the city has an extremely large African American population. San Francisco doesnt and not to mention its a very expensive city where alot of successful people live. So there goes your answer on why NO is still under construction.

Answer 8

sounds like a good idea but then you have to ask yourself this

what would you do with the buildings and people that live here and the super dome for instance??

we also have a lot of historic sites that will be ruined if you do it that way french quarter for instance