House Speaker Hastert: Rebuilding N.O. Doesn't Make Sense

Does this debate need to take place? Hmmm ....

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert dropped a bombshell on flood-ravaged New Orleans on Thursday by suggesting that it isn’t sensible to rebuild the city.

"It doesn't make sense to me," Hastert told the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago in editions published today. "And it's a question that certainly we should ask."

The Illinois Republican’s comments drew an immediate rebuke from Louisiana officials.

“That’s like saying we should shut down Los Angeles because it’s built in an earthquake zone,” former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said. “Or like saying that after the Great Chicago fire of 1871, the U.S. government should have just abandoned the city.”

Times-Picayune Breaking News Weblog.

Comments

[Gunslinger]

I was waiting on this comment.

[Muirnin]

Yeah, Dan, it does!

Thanks for bringing up the topic. We certainly need to address it!

I may get flamed for this, but I think building a city below sea level is absolutely stupid, as well as building anything on a fault line. It doesn't take much common sense to figure it out.

IMO, New Orleans needs to be rebuilt, if ever, above sea level.

[citizen]

That is a good question that has to be asked. And if LA had the devastating earthquake, we would have to ask that question about rebuilding there as well.

If New Orleans is in a bowl, then the levy system will have to be redesigned. I think the question will ultimately be answered by the insurance companies. You can't rebuild, if no one is willing to insure what you rebuild. and what insurance company will be willing to take that risk again. And at what price?

[angelaberdine]

Never. It is just a disaster-in-waiting. It would never be the same.

[tickedoff]

Dear Speaker Hastert,
How dare you tell the people of the United States that it doesn't make sense to rebuild the city of New Orleans, LA. This is the United States -- we can do it and we will do it. So get your congress to provide the means to bring the levee system up to standards needed and get it done. The city will revive. It is one of the great places in the US (no, I don't live there) If the Netherlands is able to accomplish redoing the integrity of their dikes, the United States can do the same thing.

You, sir, owe the people of New Orleans and the people of the state of Louisiana an apology. If you were my congressman, you would have just lost my vote in the next election.

[xylo]

If allowed to rebuild there, who is going to insure all those new buildings, houses and businesses? I for one would not want to pay a higher premium on my flood insurance to suppliment a city insured below sea level...

It really doesn't make sense, but it also because it's human beings it will be rebuilt, the question is who insures them when they are built again.

[bhm mom too]

It is an excellent question and I am very supportive of it being debated. New Orleans is below sea level. This tragedy could happen again. Loss of life again. I agree with the statement above regarding insurance. What company would insure New Orleans again.

The toll of the disaster is felt by the rest of the nation as well and our funds are going to the victims and for infrastructure repair. if it happened again, we in the rest of the nation again would have to help NO rebuild. Relocate it to above sea level.

[*flo*]

Orleans is a vast part of US history which its marsh lands are quickly deterioraing as most shorelines, rebuilding should be done inland and its levy/lake infrastructure are brought to date.

[Dutch Eagle]

Coming from the Netherlands (half of it below sealevel) I know what it is like to live in a country that's at some places (Rotterdam) 20ft below sea level. You just don't notice until angry mother nature hits you. After the great flooding in 1953 in which about 1850 people died, the Netherlands started a very costly & elaborate programme to protect itself againts the violent North Sea. Allthough day to day weather is much more ferocious than in Texas, Louisiana etc, we do not have hurricanes like Katrina. Building to those once-every-50-years events is technically possible, but like many people already here said: it's gonna take huge amounts of money. I'm very bitter about all human suffering that's going on right know in the hurt southern states. I hope that there will be a plan for the future in order to avoid all this great suffering.

[tickedoff]

The toll of the disaster is felt by the rest of the nation as well and our funds are going to the victims and for infrastructure repair. if it happened again, we in the rest of the nation again would have to help NO rebuild. Relocate it to above sea level.

Posted by: bhm mom too | Sep 1, 2005 11:42:35 PM

We pay everytime there is an earthquake in California. That gets rebuilt. Is the solution not to live where there's a fault line? We pay for other places hit by hurricanes. That gets rebuilt. Is the solution not to live in hurricanes' paths? Let's all go live in Kansas - only thing is, they get tornados. No one can live by a river or a potential flood zone because disasters happen there too. NO will come back.

[FloridaPatty]

Miami came back better than ever after Andrew.

It can be done.

[alabamajazz]

I sure hope it does tickedoff. Maybe one day my beloved Vieux Carre will host a Mardi Gras that will last a lifetime.

[angelaberdine]

How can you rebuild something that should have never been built where it was in the first place. Everyone knew that it was a disaster just waiting to happen. The charm of New Orleans was that it had survived so much and her beautiful architecture, streets, and that can never be the same again. What was New Orleans is gone. Live with those beautiful memories of your times there, like I will. My beautiful crescent city is forever washed away. There is too much human suffering to repeat history. Learn from it and move forward. Miami and Los Angeles are totally different. They are not in the bowl of the mighty Mississippi.

[Muirnin]

How can you rebuild something that should have never been built where it was in the first place. Everyone knew that it was a disaster just waiting to happen.

This will be a famous quote, eventually!

[bhmmom]

A city built below sea level should not be rebuilt. If Los Angeles was 90% wiped out, I doubt they would rebuild on the same fault line.

Why would people want to put their families, their businesses in jeopardy. but, ultimately I think it will depend on the insurance industry. If they can get insurance, I think they will rebuild. If not, the city will be moved.

[AkekoaHoAlethia]

They will have to rebuild it because it is such an important port city. There is too much invested in Real Estate. They will need a master plan that includes double walled levies -- like double hulled ships -- so if the first level breaks, the second will contain the water.

Diversionary canals should be built.

Then they will have to build all pumps up on stilts above the high tide + 20 ft level with each one having its own diesel generator, fed by a secure fuel pipe and emergency tank with enough for 1 week and refillable by helicopter tankers or barges.

[sensible]

Recall that the Netherlands is below sea level. They have a system of dikes. After their disaster, they have three barriers of dikes. The US has known for a while that the levees needed upgrading. It should have been done. NOW it will. NO has been there a very long time. Like Alabamajazz I want to see Mardi Gras again, sit at Jackson Square and eat my beniets and drink cafe au lait.

[*flo*]

Then they will have to build all pumps up on stilts above the high tide + 20 ft level with each one having its own diesel generator, fed by a secure fuel pipe and emergency tank with enough for 1 week and refillable by helicopter tankers or barges.

Posted by: AkekoaHoAlethia | Sep 2, 2005 1:00:09 AM

YOU'RE HIRED!;) I'm sure there will be engineers/scientist from all regions @ all coastal areas looking for ways to improve . Remembering the 1989 San Francisco, 7.1 magitude, the double bridge which collapsed, was built with earthquake proof ties/metals

[Mr. Snitch!]

Yes, it has to be debated, and it may as well be now because now that we're going to start the cleanup, we need to know if we are doing that to rebuild the place or are we just mopping up. There's a difference in approach, as you can imagine.

There are no "standards" for levees except that when they fail, they fail spectacularly. And once in a while, they WILL fail. It is inevitable. The river, the sea, nature always win in the end.

Health-wise, the city is now a brownfield. It's contaminated, poisoned - it might as well have been a giant chemical plant (and I'm from Jersey, I know about the risk of living near chemical plants). If it is going to be used as a city again, it will first become the nation's largest Superfund site. I do - we have some Superfund sites here in Hoboken. Do you know how long it takes before a contaminated site becomes viable again? Or how much it costs? It's massive, and it usually involves razing the building. To rebuild on that site, you will have to tear up most of what made it special in the first place.

Then we have the fact that the whole place is sinking, coupled with the fact (as a previous commenter mentioned) that insurance companies will charge far more than the people trapped there can afford. No rebuilding will take place without insurers.

Finally, if a city is its people and its culture, then this city is destroyed already. The people, in whom the culture resides, are being scattered among various otrher cities. Their jobs, community, and lives as they knew them are gone. The culture they shared is changed forever, and will be merged into and changed by the new communities in which they will live next.

I'm not a negative guy. But this is what we are facing, and it's not just daunting. A city that's torn asunder like this is not something that can just be put together. There are certain violations of the body or spirit that just do not heal, no matter how badly we'd like them to.

We're now about to spend billions to get people back on their feet and to clean up the city. We need to know what we are looking to accomplish. Are we looking to rebuild? If so, we had better know that whatever we build there, it won't be what it was. If not, we can concentrate on the real task, the tough but viable task, of resettlement and retraining of former NO residents.

Politically this is a difficult decision. There's a general sense of denial of the real situation right now. Some pols will just go along with that denial, insist that rebuilding is "tough but necessary" and be seen as 'visionary'. Others will try to be honest about the grim truth and be called 'negative'.

I don't know which argument will prevail. But I am accepting that the city which was New Orleans is gone. The home to a unique music and culinary history, where a unique American culture was nourished, is no more. I am grieving for it.

Charles Hill disagrees. He says "New Orleans is there, not because of some accident of fate that plopped it down in a suboptimal location, but because, over the years, millions of people have wanted it there. And one of the great privileges of living in this land is being able to live just about anywhere you want.".

[chrys]

Can't afford a dentist - I don't want to pay to build in a place Man thought it would be a "fun" creation (years ago) - Not something using land God intended people to live on. We should not have to pay for such a mechanical mistake. New Orleans needs to be moved past the "below sea level area" IF it's re-built. We should accept the fact that the entire planet is always changing. The "delta" has been called home! People need a better blessing and future than this "false" land offers.

[chrys]

Here's an interesting take on this:

http://lp.typepad.com/lopsided/2005/09/i_have_a_dream.html

[!]

HURRICANES ARE NOTHING NEW TO NEW ORLEANS, READ SOME HISTORY AS FAR BACK AS THE 1700'S.
REBUILD IT ? ..I DON'T NO.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050902/ap_on_re_us/katrina_stormy

http://www.gatewayno.com/history/history.html

http://www.gatewayno.com/history/Mississippi.html

http://www.gatewayno.com/history/new_orleans.html

[gorgeousgeorge]

New Orleans must NOT be rebuilt as it was. Taxpayers AMERICANS should revolt if that appears to be their plan.

Wetlands intended to be a buffer zone between the coast and the gulf have been destroyed and need to be restored IF that's possible with all of the pollution. The portions of the city that are rebuilt must not be rebuilt with wood and bricks but poured concrete (more expensive at first, but cheaper in the long-run. AND only those people who can afford the astronomical insurance should be allowed to build in those areas.

How many times are my tax dollars going to be used to RE-build for people who insist on living right on the edge of the sea or on a fault line, then crying foul when mother nature does what it does...naturally??? Our taxes will rise to cover this. OK fine, it happened but lets not do it AGAIN and AGAIN. The rest of us should put our feet down firmly and say DON'T DO IT. How high will our taxes rise? What is the guarantee that next September, in the midst of yet another hurricane season, yet another cat 5 hurricane will wipe out every trace of rebuilding? HOW MUCH MONEY are we require to out into the desire of others to live within spitting distance of the sea....

As far as the evacuations are concerned, the mayor and the govenor dropped the ball and in effect cost the rest of us even more money and put the lives of their constituants in grave danger. Sometimes, as with children, an authority figure has to step in and say GET ON THE BUS. With guns if must be...in the end the failure to force evacuation cost hundreds perhaps thousands of lives and gave the elements who SURELY stayed behind for the EXACT purpose of looting luxury goods the very opportunity they were hoping for.

Currently thousands of POOR Americans are without food and water and are dying on the streets because the government failed to tell the children..THIS TIME YOU MUST DO AS WE SAY....and part of me thinks that food and water is not getting to the convention center because it's be mighty nice, and much cheaper if those starving, thirsty people just died...rather than return to welfare rolls...and that sure would cut their costs.

In the face of grave danger children rarely know what is best, they need to be TOLD what to do and made to do it whether or not they like it....they lack resources to pay for their evacuation and thusly THAT very time is when the "aid" would have been most helpful. Buses, national guards, the astro dome in Huston.....EVACUATED by force before the hurricane hit...rather than evacuated in body bags when nature's fury is finished. In this instance and in this way, the government of the afflicted states FAILED the poor people.

Another issue that I'm certain is in the back of many minds, but yet unspoken is the issue of identity. How many people currently have absolutly NO PROOF of who they are? And what does this mean, in the long run, for our homeland security? Had people been forced to evacuate bringing only a small bag and important papers.....this problem would not have been so dire.

Other areas such as North Carolina's outer banks institute MANDANTORY EVACUATIONS on pain of arrest for storms of far less intensity....I think the reason they were afraid to do this in New Orleans was the level of lawlessness ALREADY PRESENT in the city and police (see looting) were afraid of armed confrontation and resistance from gangs who had no intention of vacating the city because they had plans for looting when the worst had passed.

[What'sthis]

I can't imagine the U.S. without New Orleans. My God, it's one of the most influential cities in the history of our nation. How could anyone even suggest not rebuilding her? Preventative changes, of course. I grew up along the coast and each summer I see some mighty fancy million dollar beachfront homes. Who pays to rebuild those?

I'll just playing my Louis Armstrong and Aaron Neville cds and pray for the best. Has anyone heard if Fats Domino and family have been located?

[BamaGrl25]

I can't believe so many people are suggesting not to rebuild. Government officials were warned that levees and pumps should be built up and strengthened in case an event like this happened. FEDERAL officials determined that the risk that a category 4 or 5 would hit was so little that it wasn't worth the cost to build the more modern and stronger levees. However, now that amount seems trivial to the amount it will cost to recover from this disaster. You can even verify this information by looking at reports that were issued for years from experts saying this needed to be done (including one from 6 weeks ago!!), and certain federal officials did not heed these warnings. In fact, in this year's federal budget alone the funding for the present New Orlean's levees were cut by 70%.

I do not think the people of New Orleans, the people who have spent their lives in the city, the people whose families have considered the city home for well over a century should be the ones to pay the price (the price of their beloved city ceasing to exist) because a select few officials with the authority, power and ability to PREVENT this from happening failed to act on the intense warnings. New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in the United States with a lot of history, it deserves to remain. I don't think anyone would suggest that a city like New York or Boston shouldn't be rebuilt if a natural disaster struck those cities.

Most of the Netherlands (an entire country)is below sea level just like the city of New Orleans. They had a devastating flood in the 50's which caused massive destruction, and as a result things were rebuilt, but with "massive hydraulic sea walls in place to prevent such a disaster from happening again." These sea walls make the levees provided for New Orleans look primitive. It is embarassing to me that our country that should be a world leader as far as technology, architecture, etc... and we are using systems that are comparable to those of poorer countries.

New Orleans is not only important for its history, but its ports (and the rest of the ports along the Gulf coast). Farmers in the mid-west depend on these ports for their crops to be exported, just for an example. Almost every part of the country, even if they don't realize it, depend on something that travels out of those affected ports.

With all of that said, please take into account the people from the Gulf Coast area and New Orleans (even those that no longer live there but still consider it their "home" and go back to visit often). Think about such a tragedy happening in the town you are living in right now, would you really want people discussing (and specifically a politician suggesting on national television) that your city and your homes should not be rebuilt and should cease to exist even when so many people are still unsure of what their own loss is at this point because they evacuated and can't return. In other words, this conversation is being made at a very inappropriate time, even though I think it is a ridiculous suggestion at any time. If there were not options (like sea walls and levees) that could sustain Category 5 hurricane waters, then I understand people not wanting to rebuild in a below sea level area. But there ARE options that could prevent the flooding (which is what is so damaging in New Orleans right now). If the flooding is taken out of the picture, then New Orleans is just as much at risk from a Hurricane as Miami, Charleston or anywhere else along the coast. Would we suggest those cities not be rebuilt? I think not......

I live in North Alabama and have been devastated and uplifted at the same time by talking to the refugees in my city. So many people, are opening up their homes to complete strangers, buying them clothes and supplies, etc... They are recounting offers from people all over the country to even pay for transportation to get them to a spare room in a willing American's house. No matter what people say, Americans should be proud of how much we come together and help eachother when faced with devastation. I pray for the victims and thank God for those of us willing to give everything to help complete strangers. The people of Alabama have shown that we are here to do whatever we can for our neighbors in Mississippi and Louisiana. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this horrible disaster.

[bhm mom too]

I think it will be an insurance issue in the end. And New Orleans will never be the same. New Orleans has been destoryed. as far as the port, Gavelston and other port cities can expand. Does it make sense to rebuild a city under sea level. Rebuild--but relocate.

[BamaGrl25]

New Orleans is flooded but many structures are still standing (Not saying all structures are in tact, especially not the poorer areas of town, and some specific areas of the city are more damaged than others) but many of the structures will just have water damage and need to be restored (and of course the possessions inside will need to be replaced) but not torn down and rebuilt. So to me, the areas that are "completely destroyed" are the areas of Mississippi like Biloxi and Gulfport and other smaller Louisiana coastal towns that look like piles of wood and shingles, are we going to relocate those cities too. I also forgot to mention previously what another writer said, combined with the modern strong levees and pumps we need to build, we must rebuild the buffer lands which have dwindled due to our taming of the Mississippi (all of the Mississippi not just the area around New Orleans). The materials that naturally collect at the mouth of the Missippi and build this buffer land has been kept from flowing down due to our changes and is our responsibility to rebuild.

Also, Galveston and other ports cannot take the place of the mouth of the Mississippi ports simply because they aren't on the mouth of the Mississippi. Yes, there are other ports and they can help, but the importance of the Mississippi ports is that materials can be shipped down one river the length of our country fairly easily.

[gorgeousgeorge]

Rebuild but NOT in the areas that SHOULD be and had been wetlands that are CRUCIAL buffer zones for coastal areas. YOu can see where those areas are when you look at an overview.

Any coastal town that is wiped out by a storm surge should consider NOT allowing stick built construction when rebuilding. HOW MANY TIMES will we keep doing the same thing and getting the same results? (total destruction)

Why would ANYONE want to build a home in an unsecure area below sea level? If wetlands are restored, if a levee system such as what is in place in the Netherlands is instituted then perhaps the area can recover. PERHAPS.

There is no reason why merely having a busy port means that everyone has to live right on the edge of the water.

I don't care how long a city has been there, it's destroyed now and if they put it back the way it was, it WILL be destroyed again.

[clintcarter]

The question of rebuilding New Orleans is no longer the question of why it got built in the first place. The river control projects stopped a lot of the natural deposit of silt that kept the parts that were land? at or above sea level. It's different now.
There's even another danger north of NO where the Army engineers have been working against the Mississippi taking a new route down the (some river with a complicated name that I mentioned before Katrina hit land) River because it's a more direct route to the Gulf.

[blue]

It doesn't make sense to rebuild New Oreleans. We need to burn it to the ground and know that is what will have to be done to insure against the spread of disease and then set up the oil drilling that we need for this country. We can rebuild around that instead of the sinful Marte Gras happenings and drug and weapons warehousing and importing of terrorists , etc.....blue

[blue]

It is time to for others to quit paying high insurance rate (as hidden as it may be) for others to build in places that are prone to destruction. That place is gone. We need to make government usage out of the land. Reclaim it under the law that is saying it can be taken for the good of the community(s) before it is repealed. That is another thing that will soon be off the books. We gotta get some use out of that law while it is here, besides buying up the land of those who ruled for it....blue

[blue]

No technology can withstand God's wrath.

[sensible]

Has anyone heard if Fats Domino and family have been located?

Posted by: What'sthis | Sep 2, 2005 11:22:24 AM

They did rescue Fats!! Saw video footage.

[usmcmom]

I'm going to stand on the side, of not using tax dollars to rebuild New Orleans in the same geographical area. The Mississippi and the Gulf want their dirt back, and no amount of engineering is going to make that stop. The cost-analysis in the long run is what is going to determine this. Just make it a port terminal and move the corporate center to the northern banks of Lake Ponchatrain. Suburbs will develop around that through the natural progression of private development. Those that are on gov't assistance are already going to be re-established and located in various areas of the country so they should be ok.

[clintcarter]

Wouldn't be the first time a city was moved instead of 'disappeared'.

[sensible]

It is time to for others to quit paying high insurance rate (as hidden as it may be) for others to build in places that are prone to destruction. That place is gone. We need to make government usage out of the land. Reclaim it under the law that is saying it can be taken for the good of the community(s) before it is repealed. That is another thing that will soon be off the books. We gotta get some use out of that law while it is here, besides buying up the land of those who ruled for it....blue

Posted by: blue | Sep 2, 2005 3:02:37 PM

Okay, and the next time California's infrastructure needs to be redone because of an earthquake, let's have them all relocate to Nevada.

[bhm mom too(BMT)]

Okay, and the next time California's infrastructure needs to be redone because of an earthquake, let's have them all relocate to Nevada.

Posted by: sensible | Sep 2, 2005 6:31:44 PM
If the big one hit LA, we might be having that discussion about LA as well. I think it wil all relate back to insurance dollars. I have not heard anything about the insurance companies and when/how they will pay these people for their homes.