Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : weirdwolf Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 02:11:48 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape Nick wrote in news:Xns96C4C89B431DDndtcm@ 68.1.17.6: > weirdwolf wrote: > >> "RR" wrote in >> news:zFMRe.12755$Nx.1336 @tornado.texas.rr.com: >> >>> Jim Larson wrote: >>> >>>>> In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was >>>>> one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush >>>>> administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 >>>>> percent to pay for the Iraq war. >>>>> >>>>> A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study >>>>> how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic >>>>> hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the >>>>> research not be undertaken. >>>>> >>>>> After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the >>>>> Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the >>>>> Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and >>>>> pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency >>>>> Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane >>>>> striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters >>>>> in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But >>>>> by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project >>>>> essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In >>>>> 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New >>>>> Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for >>>>> holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 >>>>> percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a >>>>> total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) forced >>>>> the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring >>>>> freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for fixing New >>>>> Orleans' levees, but it was too late. >>>>> >>>>> The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which before the hurricane >>>>> published a series on the federal funding problem, and whose >>>>> presses are now underwater, reported online: "No one can say >>>>> they didn't see it coming ... Now in the wake of one of the >>>>> worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the >>>>> lack of preparation." >>>>> >>>>> By Sidney Blumenthal >>>>> Salon.com Wednesday 31 August 2005 >>>>> >>>> >>>> (You're trying to make Iwa explode, right?) >>> >>> (The "Larry King" thread was becoming bloated and difficult to >>> wade through.) >>> >> >> Much like the programme itself? >> So do you think this will stop the distruction of the wetlands >> and the >> tightening up of building regulations for those nice seafront >> properties or will it go back to being focussed on man made levees >> etc? >> Ted > > > I don't know, do you think we could convince the gulf of mexico to stop > flowing and just be still? Believe me when I tell you this storm had > zero to do with wetlands. In fact the direction it came from may have > been the only expanding wetland area in the state of Louisiana. The > far south of Louisiana and a good bit of the middle is made up of > wetlands known as the Atchafalaya river basin. This river created a > lot of south Louisiana and is exactly where the Mississippi river now > wants to go and would already be going if man hadn't intervened and > forced the river to continue on it's current path. The river has > gotten smaller as we have had some dry years and more of the water is > diverted to the Mississippi to keep New Orleans in business. This has > caused the coastline where the water would have gone, and dropped silt > which would be increasing or maintaining the current coastline, to > shrink. However, it has caused the the toe of Louisiana to grow. This > part that is growing is exactly where the hurricane came in. > Anyway, Louisiana coastline is shrinking because it is mainly made of > silt and the gulf stream whisks it away like dirt in flowing water > because that is exactly what it is. Now we always have a lot of people > complaining about this and they want to try to stop it but I honestly > can't see how you can stop it from happening other than letting the > water flow down through the Atchafalaya basin. > Which is all well and good but have the hurricanes all landed at the same spot? A lot of the area close to where I live in the east of England has for many years suffered from the same problems of erosion due to the actions of the sea and flooding. The Dutch drained a lot of the land adding dykes and levees. Elaborate sea defences were built including groynes none of which worked. Now after much bitching and moaning by people like the nature conservation trust I belong to people are starting to realise that reed beds and wetlands have to be increased. They not only help to anchor the shifting coastline and protect it from the worst of the storm and tidal damage but also help to filter the water. I'm not saying that it's the whole answer and that it will ever replace man made options but it is a viable and relatively cheap way of buffering some of the damage.You increase the biodiveristy of the area and bring in tourist money. Ted -- Stare too long into the abyss and the abyss looks like a nifty place to hide the bodies .