2 years later

Today is the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi. Dr. Jeff Masters is blogging about it, and he links to Margie Kieper's excellent, in-depth feature on Katrina's Surge.

Comments

Two years later, and I still feel that anyone who wants to live below sea level in a coastal area that is hurricane prone is on their own. Please don't whine. Please don't come around with your hand out. Please don't even utter the phrase "Federal Government". No. The answer is still No.

If you're not happy with your lot in life, change it. Move away. Convert the parts of New Orleans and the rest of the area that are below sea level to a massive park and wetlands.

Get out and shut up.

[Angrier and Angrier]

"Get out and shut up."

Easy for you to say.

Do you have a mortgage? How would you feel if your house was in a flood zone and was uninhabitable, yet you still owed $100K for it? Do you walk away and file bankruptcy, or do you try to make the best of a bad situation?

I've seen lots of stories of people who are volunteering their lives to re-building New Orleans and some asshole like you has to portray it as some welfare thing. You are a prick.

[Anon]

Are you going to do the college football pick em contests this year for Notre Dame and Southern Cal?

[sandspur]

Brandan, It was two years ago that I came here via Michelle Malkin (I think). Thanks for all your hard work, then and now.
God Bless

The First poster is a complete idiot. Gotta love the "below sea level argument." He or she has most definitely never experienced a hurricane below, near, or above sea-level and witnessed the devastation to life and property. I HAVE. 50% of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of either coast. Maybe people who live in San Fran should live their at "their own risk" regarding earthquakes or anyone occupying space near the Tornado Alley should never count on the Fed Govt for assistance. Remind me again what FEMA is around for? Remind me again of the basic function(s) of government?

Yep, we are just idiots in New Orleans...dumb, poor, black people, why don't they just up and leave?!!? Why don't we move the residents of Mississippi out as well. How dare they want to live on the Gulf Coast.

The first poster is the one who needs to shut up and perhaps take a trip down south and learn a thing or two.

The First poster is a complete idiot. Gotta love the "below sea level argument." He or she has most definitely never experienced a hurricane below, near, or above sea-level and witnessed the devastation to life and property. I HAVE. 50% of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of either coast. Maybe people who live in San Fran should live their at "their own risk" regarding earthquakes or anyone occupying space near the Tornado Alley should never count on the Fed Govt for assistance. Remind me again what FEMA is around for? Remind me again of the basic function(s) of government?

Yep, we are just idiots in New Orleans...dumb, poor, black people, why don't they just up and leave?!!? Why don't we move the residents of Mississippi out as well. How dare they want to live on the Gulf Coast.

The first poster is the one who needs to shut up and perhaps take a trip down south and learn a thing or two.

[Anonymous #12,812,238]

I'm surprised Brendan didn't link to or post anything about John McQuaid's series on Katrina published in Mother Jones magazine. (It could be Mother Jones is too far left for Brendan's tastes or maybe he just didn't hear about it?)

McQuaid is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. The link below is to the most recent installment but there are other links to past installments.

Check it out: "Never Again? The Politics of Preventing Another Katrina" http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/08/never-again-the-politics-of-preventing-another-katrina.html

[Anonymouse #12,775,989]

And as for people just saying "Get out and shut up," they really don't understand what New Orleans is all about.

There are various ways reasons we should preserve New Orleans. Two quick and easy ones are 1. it's got incredible historical value, and 2. it's a huge shipping port that affects commerce all through the South and up the Mississippi River.

The economic reasons alone are important. But when you add the historical value of the city, it's just a no brainer that America should preserve and protect New Orleans. People who think otherwise need their heads examined.

But lastly, it is possible, given resources and engineering know how, to actually protect the city of New Orleans-- maybe not 100% but much better than pre-Katrina.

See John McQuaid's article: "What the Dutch Can Teach Us About Weathering the Next Katrina" http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/08/what-the-dutch-can-teach-us-about-weathering-hurricanes.html

The Dutch are apparently highly skilled in modern dam making to prevent these disasters-- or at least dampen their effects.

Lastly, the new design of the blog looks nice. But why don't links posted in comments become clicakble hyperlinks? Anyway to address this?

[Angrier and Angrier]

Let's keep in mind that the 9th Ward wouldn't have flooded if the Category 3 Levees could actually withstand a Category 3 Hurricane (or Category 2, if I recall correctly).

This situation has more to do with corruption at the Levee Board in New Orleans and incompetence within the Army Corps of Engineers' procurement division than New Orleans being under sea level.