I feel so bad for those people. I usually say "hey, that's what you get for living there"...but this disturbs me. How could you ever go back?.

Paul,

Glad that you and yours are safe. We're still trying to get information about my wife's mother. She was trapped in a Metairie nursing home (one-story, of course) recovering from a fractured pelvis. We haven't been able to get hold of anyone and neither Homeland Security nor the State Police have any information about the area.

We'll pray for your mother-in-law, Matt.

It's only completely destroyed if it isn't rebuilt. And it may well be too early to determine the final damage as with the levee broken, there may be another wave of flooding in a few days when Katrina's rainwater from inland flows out to the Gulf.

The destruction is incredible.

I ask a series of tough questions today on my site about whether we should re-build the city or not. After all the dirty little secrete is that all the experts KNEW this was going to happen. It was just a question of time. I know that is of little consolation to those who have lost loved ones and all they own, but I feel a serious look into the future is warranted.

Wonderkraut,

Of course it's worth it to rebuild. You gonna be run off by an event that's happened once in the 350 year history of the city? At any rate, it's all about location. We need a port at the mouth of our largest river. Being in that position means being vulnerable to tropical weather. It's not like farm towns in the Mississippi River's midwestern flood plains. You can truck produce to a shipping terminal while living on higher ground. You can't do massive break-bulk operations that way.

And Paul, the twinspans are GONE? Holy Mother of ****er!

It's hard to say that New Orleans was "lucky" after seeing what the city looks like in the aftermath of Katrina, but judging by what the Mississippi coastline experienced, New Orleans may truly be lucky in escaping total devastation by only a few miles.

I followed the WWL and WDSU feeds all day and night and was astonished by what they were showing last night. They had reporters out in boats as rescuers broke through rooftops to pull people out of their attics. In some areas it looks like they will have to remove all of the buildings and start over. South Plaquemines Parish seems to be totally wiped off the map.

New Orleans has always been one of my favorite places to visit. Seeing it like this is truly sobering.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who've been affected.

NO is a historical site. As such, it should be rebuilt. Even though everyone knew this might happen, it has and will happen again. That the city has been rebuilt numerous times cannot be denied. I only hope that this great city can recover quickly.

I was last in New Orleans in July 2005, and before that in September 2004. Walking down Royal street, and driving through Metarie are two joys I will never forget. Everywhere we went, you could not only see, but you could feel the history of this place. I gained 5 lbs both times I visited this great city, as the food is fantastic. I am deeply saddened that so many have lost so much. I have never met a more friendly group of citizens. Gods blessings on everyone in the Big Easy.

That is why I called the post "Some Tough Questions." I do not know the answer. But I do think we need to rebuild it. Your point about NO being a historical site is true. But at what point do the cost, both dollars and lives, out weigh the desire to rebuild a great city?

I also know that disaster can strike anywhere. But one of the few things we cant prevent is Mother Nature. NO is sinking, has been forever. So do we build 100' high levees? Maybe. But I guess my question goes back to at what point do we abandon it to the sea?

This is a very interesting question and I look forward to hearing the many varied answers to it. Which is right? Who knows.

errr... I have fat fingers today!!! Darnit. That was supposed to read: I DON'T KNOW if we should rebuild it.

Sorry for the mistake.

Cyber, I gather that the "twin span bridge" that got knocked out was the I-10 causeway to Slidell. When I first read this, I assumed he meant the GNO and had pretty much the same reaction as you.

As bad as things are, the damage is no where close to as bad as it could have gotten. Had the storm retained it's early F5 strength, a direct hit on the city would have resulted in near total devastation. Right now there are buildings partially under water, but they are standing. Most of the older buildings in downtown NO would have been destroyed by the winds, and the storm surge could have easily gone another 10-feet higher. This would have totally overwhelmed the levees at all points.

Here is an image of Galveston, TX after the 1900 hurricane. There the damage was nearly total. True there is severe damage in some locations in New Orleans, but if this is typical, it looks like the city was mostly spared. (Leave it to the reporters to frame the only damaged building in blocks.)

I would say the answer is obvious: The city should be repaired, and the short-comings of the levee system should be addressed. In the long run that will be far less expensive than waiting until the "big one" arrives.

Paul Zrimsek,

Right, I-10 over the Lake is the Twinspan. The bridge over the River is the GNO or the Crescent City Connection, depending on how old you are. I was reacting knowing the I-10 over the Lake was gone. Anyone heard anything about the Huey P. Long bridge?

This looks like a dreadful tragedy both in terms of life and property. My best wishes go to all those caught up in Katrina.

All the best.

Peter from

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This won't help.

http://ap.wwltv.com/dynamic/files/photos/L/LADP11108301631.html?SITE=WWL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=USHEADS.html

As far as I can recall, Shep Smith spent the weekend in the French Quarter reporting, onsite, throughout the landfall and thereafter.

I have cited your post on Katrina in a Special Edition of my Weekly BlogScan at Blogcritics.org. The special edition, titled "Blogging Katrina" can be read at http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/30/123719.php

I'm sitting pretty in Dallas right now, watching the WDSU and WWL coverage praying for a glimpse of my neighborhood and my mom's to figure out if we have homes to go back to. But I'm also FURIOUS at the people who refused to evac. Valuable resources are now being used to rescue these idiots (and that group includes people I love dearly and hope to God they are being rescued, BTW) because they were too damn stubborn to leave. I know part of this is a stress reaction - like when you lose sight of your kid at the mall for a minute or two, and when you find him hiding from you in a rack of clothes, you simultaneously want to hug him because you're relieved and slap him for scaring the crap out of you. I'm just MAD clear through at these idiots because they were told, repeatedly, loudly, for YEARS what would happen if a Cat. 3 or above hit the city. They have NO excuse.

You usually say "That's what you get for living there?"

Where SHOULD we all live, Kansas? No, they have tornadoes.

Minnesota? Ice Storms.

Seattle? Anarchists.

California? Wildfires and Earthquakes.

Boston/NYC/DC? Terrorism.

Where's the "right spot" where we should all - 300 Million of us - live?

OF COURSE we should rebuild New Orleans. Now the real issue is, how do we rebuild the lives that are destroyed?

RE: WunderKraut post (August 30, 2005 11:28 AM)

No doubt there are hard questions to be asked. I know you aren't suggesting the abandonment of a port at the mouth of the Mississippi, and I think we all accept that as an absolute.

I think you'll agree that the degree of reconstruction is what needs to be considered. Rather than create a vast, sprawling population center in such a vulnerable site, wouldn't it be wiser to delay such "luxuries" and focus on rebuilding the industrial infrastructure we know we must have? Then, perform expedited engineering feats on grand scale to rebuild/redesign/reconstruct the flood and storm defenses of the mission critical city. Finally, establish new construction codes that can withstand the inevitable and repeated hurricane winds that will revisit this city (and ones like it).

Rather than rush in and rebuild everything on the cheap (relatively speaking), wouldn't it make more sense to set up a longer-term, new millenium where more practical considerations are pressed to the fore over the desire for flash and entertainment? Focus on the city's economically viable industrial engine and steer clear of the tourist one.

Rebuilding in these zones, and not just the Mississippi delta, is too short-sighted and expensive given the inevitable pressures of Mother Nature. These events are not random or unusual. When such predictable disasters are continually met with a desire to return to the way things were, these sites really become economic sinkholes. Is such a pattern a wise use of resources?

I know these are the hard questions you ask... and they are reasonable. I wonder how far the monies now necessary for clean-up at a price premium would have gone prior to natural disaster. I wonder how one puts a price on the pain and suffering of those whose lives were washed down the street temporarily if not completely away. I wonder if it's wise to repeat the mistake and not remember that this will happen again. It may yet repeat this year... or in a hundred years. Should we gamble or should we present a better, more justifiable plan? Given the repercussions evidenced in the past few days and intermittently over the years, I'm not of the rolling-the-dice mentality.

AnonymousDrivel, I really think you nailed what I was trying to ask.

Yes there probably are better ways to re-build the city that would better protect from future storms. I have nothing much at add at all. I think you put it into words better than I did.

I am a Civil Engineer and looking at flooding issues and pumps and levees is a daily thing for me and the city I work for. I see money wasted here as well on areas that should be turned back over to Nature. But politics usually plays a BIG part in it all.

"Most" of Metairie? Paul- any word on your neighborhood?

I'm sorry, dude. I'm glad you're safe, personally.

/praying.

Anything more specific on metairie -- like Power Blvd at the lake -- parents' home one block south of the lake levee on Robeline Street. they're freaked-out in Dallas -- and trying to do a little searching for them

I think they should rebuild it all, as long as it's done in the right order. Levees first, rework the pumping system to double or triple it's capacity with backup power, and then restoration of the houses. Set up livable temporary housing for the homeless and do it right. If thewy try to half-ass do it and it gets hit again before they are even halfway done people will stop donating and supporting the project. The city needs to rebuilt, there's no doubt about that, but doing it to preserve it for the history is useless if it isn't done in a way to make sure it has a future.

I have a daughter that goes to school at Dillard.
She got home,but we are wondering about the condition of her apartment building. It is out in Metarie..The name of it is "The Crossings".
If anyone has any news please let us know.

As bad as it is in New Orleans, the damage in Biloxi is just mind numbing. Much of Biloxi has been flattened to ground level.

Video from WLOX-TV here.

Everything that I've heard about Metairie's condition is bad, I'm so sorry.

This site has links to local forum boards. My in-laws live in Mandeville/St. Tammany and we have gotten a lot of info on their neighborhood.

http://www.nola.com/weblogs/nola/

I hate to say it folks, but the worst suffering is yet to come. The next few weeks will be brutal.

I helped a friend after Andrew. He was well insured, upper middle class. He and his wife and two kids lived in a tent in their front yard for a month and a half. He requested, in order of importance, water filters (the kind hikers use), a gun, a generator, coolers, and handy wipes. Ice and limited food were generally available back then.

The gun request was the most shocking, because he was a hard-core lefty lib, totally anti-gun up to that point. I had to give him a crash course in shot gun use. The National Guard made occasional passes through his neighbor hood, but that was the only protection they had for a month. He felt a generator was useless without a gun to protect it.

The current situation is going to be a whole lot worse. Food can wait a couple days, but people will need fresh water very soon, and its going to be hard to come by. Hopefully, most will resist the urge to drink what comes out of their taps.

Please be prepared to open up your wallets to help.

Oddly enough, Hugo Chavez is offering water, food, and fuel...see the story on Yahoo.

Any word on Garden District neighborhoods? Loyola, Tulane, Xavier Universities? What about students and families situations? Anyway to help?

I hate to say it folks, but the worst suffering is yet to come. The next few weeks will be brutal.

That, sad to say, is a certainty.

My wife has been monitoring reports from Slidell and it doesn't sound good. All kinds of wind as well as flood damage, though someone did report that the water has begun to recede there since it's above sea level.

The hotel she and I stayed at on a visit three years ago, right by the Superdome, had about half the windows blown out. Our room was on the 15th floor, on the corner with windows on both sides, and the rooms are separated by an atrium that goes all the way up, with window glass facing south to the river and the Gulf.

Hearing and seeing the TV reports, and reading about it on the web, gives me a surreal feeling very much like I had on and for a few days after 9/11.

In no way do I wish to make light of what has happened...but I just read this quote...

"The first light of day today revealed what we had feared," Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said at a morning news conference. "The devastation is greater than our worst fears. It's just totally overwhelming."

...and, I'm sorry, but there were way worse predictions being made. If the Governor was working from an assumption based on other information that the destruction would be less, there should have been more of an effort to communicate that...I think most people were planning on the complete flooded flattening of NO.