September 13, 2004

Danger to New Orleans?

I remember after a visit to New Orleans a couple of years ago a tour guide mentioned that if a Category 5 hurricane were to ever strike New Orleans, that it could result in the flooding and possible destruction of the historic French Quarter.

I have been watching the computers models of Hurricane Ivan's possible path, and it continues to track westward. Now the most westward track leads directly to New Orleans. Of course, it wouldn't be a direct hit (it would have to cross over the lower Louisiana peninsula and wetlands in that area which would shield New Orleans somewhat), but I still think it would be quite catastrophic.

I did a little digging and found a good six-part story done by American Radio Works on this potential disaster as well as information referencing the effects of a hurricane even if it did come across the natural buffer to the south of New Orleans (as Ivan could do):

And there's another reason why scientists worry more about hurricanes every single year. There's always been a huge natural buffer that helps protect New Orleans from storms. There are miles of wetlands between here and the Gulf of Mexico: they slow hurricanes down as they blow in from the sea. But that buffer is disappearing. Every year, a chunk of wetlands the size of Manhattan crumbles and turns into open water.

Joe Suhayda explains, "So the hurricane can move closer to the city before it starts to decrease. So in effect, the city is moving closer to the Gulf as each year goes by."

And he says, it's partly because of those levees along the Mississippi River. When they stopped the river from flooding, they also prevented the wetlands from getting the regular doses of floodwater and mud that they need to survive. Studies show that if the wetlands keep vanishing over the next few decades, then you won't need a giant storm to devastate New Orleans — a much weaker, more common kind of hurricane could destroy the city too.

You can read the entire story here.

Everybody has been talking about Florida, but New Orleans might be a new possible target the way this thing has been tracking.

Comments:

Please Note! Failure to abide by the following may result in your comments being edited or deleted: Remain on topic. Foul language and/or personal attacks are not permitted. Excessive links (more than three per thread) must be approved first. If you do include a link in your comment, make sure it is a short link (go to tinyurl.com if it is too long). Try to keep comments to 125 words or less. Thank you.

That city could use a good bath anyway. Always smells like urine...

Posted by: Big Daddy at September 13, 2004 04:04 PM