Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : weirdwolf Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 02:41:52 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape Nick wrote in news:Xns96C4CF2F5C682ndtcm@ 68.1.17.6: > weirdwolf wrote: > >> 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. > > How big is the area you are talking about? > Christmas trees is one of the ways they try to combat coastal erosion > here. Every year they collect all the christmas trees that people had > and take them down to the coast and dump them in. A short term solution and not a very elegant one. Most of the east coast of England has problems with coastal erosion.I live on a ridge that used to be the coastline several million years ago, it's the only high(ish) land between here and the sea. Norfolk has even greater problems, it's the round sticky out bit on the east coast. > It is a nice idea but you will never get tourist money down to places > like Grand Isle unless it is for something like sport fishing. It > isn't pretty and it is a long drive down a small road. Environmental tourism. Bring in the bird watcher types. Ted -- Stare too long into the abyss and the abyss looks like a nifty place to hide the bodies .