Even Firmer in My Resolve
Sep 4th, 2008 by Nola
My office never lost electricity. Nor internet. So I am here now getting drunk off of typing with two hands instead of two thumbs and able to check things that require internet. Like Entergy’s outage map. And applying for FEMA.
Overall we are fine. Still no electricity (Day Four). But my handy new generator and window unit are serving us well. It is bearable.
I appreciate all of the show of concern and support my non-NOLA followers (and my NOLA peeps too) have been giving me. It has been a tremendous boast in the low moments.
I have so much to write; so many thoughts in my head. But I just don’t have the time now for a lengthy post. I promise to catch up with your blogs soon!!
Just know that what is important in my life—my family, my friends and my beloved city—are all doing well. My rant against Entergy and the politics of storms in the South and the impact of the destruction of the wetlands to southeast Louisiana and the rest of the country will have to wait.
A friend of mine, a clinical pshycologist, whose home was very badly damaged in Katrina and is still not completely fixed, said this to me:
It is not easy living in New Orleans these days. And some of us do it as political action. To leave would be an insult to those that were forced out by Katrina and don’t yet have the financial resources to return to their home. We press on. Because that is our choice but also because we have no choice: We must press on. If only for the sake of others.
New Orleans is a very small big city. And our sense of community just gets stronger every damn storm. We get to know our neighbors better. We get to know ourselves better. We get better at dealing on the edges of anxiety. We get stronger in our personal relationships and working as teams.
We here in the city are all relieved our levees held for Gustav. But we all also know that it was just a minor test. It was a Cat 3 that went west of us. We won’t rest until New Orleans is prepared for a Cat 5. And that we are owed.
This makes me miss home desperately…
Jane Moneypenyy’s last blog post..Sitting & Missing
The USACoE has been working their asses off, and it showed. I believe had Katrina never hit, Gustav would have caused many levees to fail.
Now to say that the levees will hold in a Cat 5 storm is a very difficult design criterium. Number 1, it is an open-ended standard. A Storm with 300 mph winds, a pressures of 750 mBar, and 40′ storm surge would still technically be a cat 5, and no amount of engineering would protect anything from that.
Another rpoblem is the Saffir-Simpson scale itself. The scale is flawed by being based solely on wind speeds. The flaw is evident when viewing Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina ‘s maximum intensity (902 mBar) was 11 hours before landfall in Plaquemines parish. In those eleven hours, the wind speeds decreased by 45 mph (from 170mph to 125mph), thus reducing its intensity on the S-S scale; BUT, the pressure had only risen to 920 mBar. This low pressure still sucked the water beneath the storm up like a vacuum creating what could arguably be the worst storm surge since Hurricane Camile.
So, I encourage people not to demand “Cat 5 protection,” but to rather demand specific protection qualities. I.e., demand levees that can withstand 20′ of storm surge, building that can withstand 175 mph winds, or drainage that can remove an inch per hour from with in the levees.
Ryan’s last blog post..Go read this NOW
You are absolutely right. And Ryan is right, too. We can’t protect against overwhelming storms, but we can protect for foreseeable storms. I don’t think that is what has been done yet.
A more effective solution could lie in a Thames or Netherlands-style floodgate at or near the Rigolets, closed when needed to keep out storm surge but open otherwise to allow ship traffic and tidal flow (and how about some tidal-driven electrical turbines in between the gates?)
This would, of course, be very expensive. But, once the decision is made, there is no reason it cannot be pursued with the same resolve as the Apollo program. And, I’m no expert, but using what I propose be a standard unit of monetary measure regarding federal spending, it should not cost more than a couple of weeks in Iraq, the going rate of which is now about $3 billion/week.
It’s all a matter of priorities. Do we empty the Pontchartrain basin of people, putting them at risk on the road and with no promise of safety at their destination, at who knows what economic costs? Or do we resolve to the one thing that can make us most safe?
Pontchartrain Pete’s last blog post..Gustav, the Aftermath
Well done NOLA. Well done.
Xbox4NappyRash’s last blog post..Where can you buy a vagina wig?
while I agree with your psychologist friend, there are still a lot of folks who are living in metro NOLA that really should leave. If you can’t handle the stress of hurricane season, you owe it to yourself and your family to move someplace where you won’t become a basket case every time the city is in the 5-day warning cone.
YatPundit’s last blog post..Politicizing NASA as a scare tactic
Glad you made it home! We should all gather our thoughts on this together over coffee or beer.
pistolette’s last blog post..Gustav #17
I absolutely agree that we should not be spending money in Iraq instead of rebuilding New Orleans.
And, NOLA, I was glued to Twitter following your every move and am SO happy you’re home safe & sound!
suz’s last blog post..SUZ=Politics
I am so glad to hear you are okay and NOLA is okay. I was very worried about you all. I CANNOT WAIT to come down in the fall.
Tara R.’s last blog post..Alms for the poor…
Pete said it! When we compare the cost of a viable protective barrier in New Orleans to a couple of weeks in Iraq–it’s hard to say it can’t be done. It’s a matter of priority.
Ed (zoesdad)’s last blog post..Duracell Can Bite Me
OH, BTW–So glad you are safe and home.
Ed (zoesdad)’s last blog post..Duracell Can Bite Me
Glad everything is going okay.
Your friend makes a good point. Even now, maybe more so now that we’ve moved, my girlfriend and I are considering moving back once both our graduate schools are done with.
I miss southern Louisiana something fierce. I never really understood the temerity of the residents before. Of course, I had never moved away before, either. And now the distance hurts.
Sharon’s last blog post..New semester
Glad you are (all) safe. Cannot stand that you all have to suffer so much stress each fall….but come Jan 2009 there will be change!