It's not politically correct to ask whether NO should be rebuilt

[greenman3610]

but we do need to ask if it should be rebuilt at great cost,
repeating the same environmental mistakes that doomed it
in the first place.
The levee system itself, by altering the Mississippi flow,
began the breakdown of the delta which makes the
area more and more vulnerable.
Is rebuilding them "bigger and better" the answer?
We all know that Halliburton would be very happy
to take 100 billion dollars to build the
biggest, Baddest levees the world has ever seen,
but if the original idea of the levees is based on
ecological ignorance, is that really the way we
want to go?
Just want to open this for discussion.

[Zynx]

1. The only way it should be is if they "Galveston" it.

In other words, they raise the entire area significantly so that a similar event is not possible.

[Harry S Truman]

2. Egads, man.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Dresden and Berlin were all rebuilt. What? The brain-dead USA can't rebuild a city?
OF COUSE, NOLA will be rebuilt.

[greenman3610]

3. read the post again. If we are going to do it, are we going to be stupid?

Or will we do it right?
Will we just throw huge public
money at large contractors and call
it compassion?
Or will we do something intelligent
using our best current understanding
to solve a problem?

[Zynx]

4. I said that if we decide to, we should raise the whole city above sea

level. It makes no sense other than to thumb our nose at nature to leave it below sea level.

[NashVegas]

6. Those Places Didn't Have the Mississippi to Contend With

IMO, from a standpoint of remaking a city that isn't going to be a total money pit forever, the best thing to do would probably be to allow the Mississippi to have the delta back for 5-10 years, let it rebuild itself first.

The only problem with that is it's a major shipping port, and a crucial port for national security.

[Cocoa]

5. if Halliburton built the levees

then I wouldn't be caught dead in New New Orleans in hurricane season.

[Old and In the Way]

7. Given all the debris in the region.....

why not crush and sterilize it and use that as base to build it above sea-level?
NO is there to stay...how they approach it now, while the town is evacuated is the question. It has to be from the bottom up sofuture storms do not create a second flooding disaster of this magnitude. It would put the people in NO back to work, building a beter city if there is the political will to make it happen.

[GeorgeGist]

8. As Egads man makes clear...

it's not politically correct to question the wisdom of the US of A. But Nagasaki, et al don't have anything to do with an answer.

I personally think re-building NOLA in it's present location is a waste of money that could put to far better use than the thrill of thumbing our noses at mother nature.