AFTER Hurricane Katrina, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R.-Ill., was asked if he thought flooded parts of New Orleans should be rebuilt. "I don't know," he answered. "That doesn't make sense to me."
Hastert went perhaps a bit too far, saying "a lot of that place looks like it could be bulldozed." But he has raised the important question of whether it makes sense to move thousands of people back below sea level only to have the city drown again with the next big hurricane.
Louisiana politicians and the media erupted as if Hastert had caused the hurricane. But a recent Associated Press poll reveals that 54 percent of Americans agree that parts of New Orleans should be rebuilt in another place.
Of course it is impossible to shield every city from danger. Los Angeles has been damaged by earthquakes and Miami by hurricanes -- nobody would suggest that California and Florida be evacuated. A pragmatic approach to urban planning would test a city's design against the costs and benefits to the population. Moving the most devastated parts of New Orleans close by and above sea level certainly wouldn't make it hurricane-proof, but doing so would bring an enormous increase in safety without much added inconvenience to the people who lived there -- especially considering that large tracts of the city must be completely rebuilt anyway.
Luckily, the tourist centers of the French Quarter and the Garden District are mostly intact. These areas should and will be restored to their former glory. But it would be inexcusable to rebuild neighborhoods that ended up underneath 20 feet of water, and set up a situation where it could happen again. And insuring those properties will now be incredibly expensive, if not impossible.
New Orleans will never be safe from the storm surge flooding of a direct hurricane hit, but relocating these neighborhoods would spare New Orleans the horror of flooded streets with floating corpses and toxic waste.
As Katrina struck, the media announced that it was a "near miss" for New Orleans.
It would have been, were the city above sea level like its suburbs. The suburbs of New Orleans were certainly hard hit, but most residents have been allowed back in and electricity is already being restored. Compare this situation to flooded New Orleans, which weeks later was still being evacuated and where it will likely be months before anyone is allowed back.
Louisiana wetlands, which form a natural buffer against storm surges, have been disappearing at the rate of a football field every 35 minutes, according to National Geographic. Assuming this trend continues, New Orleans will sit next to the sea by 2040. Add this to rising sea levels and the likelihood that New Orleans will continue to sink lower below sea level, and it won't be long before another disaster is brewing.
Even if the government claims that a new levee system would be flood-proof against the strongest storms, it would take five years to build, leaving the city vulnerable for that time when displaced residents should be getting on with their lives. Not to mention that promises of structure impenetrable by water should seem eerily familiar to anyone who's seen the movie "Titantic."
If nature wants the wetlands back, let her keep them. Instead of needlessly wasting lives and money the next time there is a hurricane, the government could buy property in precarious places, convert it to wetlands, and encourage the old residents to use insurance money and other compensation to rebuild in a safer place near the city. The government should give up any pretense of building a wall around the weather -- because the weather will win.
Herb Ladley is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at hladley@cavalierdaily.com.
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