Geology Professor Robert Thorson of the University of Connecticut writes that Hurricane Katrina gave the U.S. the "shock and awe" it needed to realize what does happen in a man-made catastrophe. courant.com | New Orleans Can't Stand In Nature's Way
From his column in the Hartford Courant on September 4:
"The flood surge that swept through New Orleans was created largely by human folly. We let the city sink below sea level (5 to 15 feet). We built dikes higher and higher on foundations resembling brown butter. We developed an evacuation plan that failed miserably, especially for the poor."
"'This was our Atlantis.' That's what I want my great-grandchildren to hear when they ask what happened to New Orleans in 2005."
"I want them to learn about the fatal mix of rising seas, sinking lands, elevating rivers, shoreline erosion and increased storminess that finally caught up with public ignorance and government arrogance."
He briefly describes in layman's terms five geological factors that lead him to a conclusion that rebuilding New Orleans under such circumstances "is not the kind of risk that a prudent insurance company or an overspent federal government should take."
Posted by dougsimpson at September 8, 2005 07:16 AM