Liberty's Blog

Some Thoughts about Rebuilding

New Orleans has a long road to find normalcy. The timeline seems irrationally long weeks, months, years, maybe never. Yes, some have even proposed just giving up on New Orleans and bulldozing it into a toxic waste dump. Some of the people that have come here to Texas have already found jobs, permanent housing and expressed intentions of staying. Others have shown impatience and want to go back now. The biggest obstacle to rebuilding is going to be is where are you going to put the people, to do the massive rebuilding. Although the infrastructure seems to be coming on line quickly, roads are being drained and cleared, and electricity is coming on yet, water and sewage may be the most important services, and are unlikely to come on quickly. The oil and chemical industry is crippled not because they are damaged, but because there is no one around to run them. Getting workers to rebuild without a place to live is going to involve strategy similar to musical chairs. Homes have to be available, to get work done so that more folks can be brought in.

The first real crisis that no one has addressed yet is coming in November. How are they going to have elections? Absentee ballots I suppose, perhaps absentee candidates. New Orleans voters are scattered all over the country, one has to be concerned that the voters will be uninformed about the issues and the candidates. The voters didn’t do such a wonderful job when they had local access to the candidates. To those who plan on returning, this could be the most important election of their lives. The people of New Orleans now must realize just how important local leadership is, and its now about to become even more important as a new city is built. They are going to live with decisions good and bad for many years.

The Toledo Blade has an article on some of the options for New Orleans:

The city’s rebuilding would take place in stages as well, with the most intact areas scheduled for protection and refurbishment first. The worst areas would be last on the list, but reconstruction could only begin after the neighborhoods were raised above sea level.“Let’s do what they did in Galveston: bring sediment in, and fill these areas in. Take areas that are minus 10 [below sea level] and make them plus 10.“Let’s say we could raise 10 square miles back to plus 10, with good soils, uncontaminated soils. This would be a huge area for brand new sewer, power, underground lines, with homes raised a little above the ground, and industrial parks. You have this blank slate.’’Leonard Bahr is the director of the Applied Coastal Science Program for Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. He suggests two other sources of fill for New Orleans’ lowland: the rubble from demolished buildings and mud from rivers elsewhere.

Ideas like this are not only going to take a lot of money, but a lot of will. The local government hasn’t shown us much confidence in its ability to lead and manage the massive amount of money and resources needed.

posted by Liberty @ 3:11 PM