There are horrific WILDFIRES in LA every autumn, it seems. And yet every year, people rebuild. ARE THEY NUTS!? Should the people of LA rebuild in a place they KNOW is DISASTER PRONE? Ditto SF and earthquakes. People should not rebuild wherever there's a threat of a natural disaster.
SARCASM OFF. Telling people not to rebuild in LA or SF is RIDICULOUS. Yet many MANY bloggers and others said the same about New Orleans.
Ridiculous. It'd be like NOT rebuilding on the WTC site; it'd be like admitting defeat.
2 comments:
Your last sentence doesn't make sense. If you claim that not rebuilding is like admitting defeat, then there is a huge difference between not rebuilding something destroyed by terrorists and something destroyed by the forces of nature. Terrorists might be inspired if you admit defeat to them and discouraged if you don't. Nature doesn't care and will continue to destroy until you give up or you build up your defenses beyond what nature can destroy. If somehow the ocean started rising by a foot a year, would you insist that moving away from the coasts is a bad idea because it is admitting defeat?
I do think that New Orleans should be rebuilt so long as there are people who want to live there, however, admitting or not admitting defeat is irrelevant in this case. I don't think there is anywhere in the world that does not have at least occasional extremely destructive natural disasters, and certainly not in the US. Everywhere on the east coast is hit by a bad hurricane at least once every hundred years. Most of the midwest gets tornados all summer. The west coast has earthquakes and fires. The northern midwest and the rocky mountain regions get buried in snow most winters. People who will only build somewhere that they think will never be destroyed will be disappointed.
James
The issue to re-build in New Orleans is more complex than you point out. If the local people, or their insurance companies, were paying for the re-building, it would be none of our business if they re-built in a location that will be inundated again. The problem is that our federal tax dollars will be used to finance an uneconomic activity. Since it is our money, we have the right to complain when it is foolishly spent. There ought to be a rule that you can get federal or private insurance only once. That way if you choose to re-build on flood plains, in fire paths and below sea level then you, not innocent people, pay for your folly.
Lou Wheeler
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