I think of the old Arlo Guthrie song, City Of New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina is due to hit the city on Monday morning. It is supposed to be a category 4 by then. I feel for the people there, but if the founders had a used a little prudence and built the city on higher ground, so many would not be so vulnerable. It is the blind love of money and plain short sightedness. I am not saying that Arlo had a prophetic dream about New Orleans(I don't think so), however there is a line in the song I'm riding on a train they call the city of New Orleans.... Right now I am watching Foxnews and I am seeing a train of cars that could be called the City of New Orleans. It is a bit ironic at least.
Well, they built it a long time ago, maybe they didn't know how the weather was in the area, since the Europeans were newcomers. But it does seem dumb building a city at the end of a huge river, right in the flood plain in a swampy area. But then again, some dumbass built Venice on a swamp, and look how cool that city is now? Has it's problems of course, but still. What I think is dumb are all those idiots building homes on barrier islands, which are basically just moving sand bars. Don't they even advise against building on sand in the Bible? Every hurricane comes by and wrecks these homes, but there they are again the next year, building more.
Yes they do advise against it in the Bible. Matthew 7; 24-27 "Anyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on rock. When the rainy season set in, the torrents came and the winds blew and buffeted his house. It did not collapse; it had been solidly set on rock. Anyone who hears my words but does not put them into practice is like the foolish man who built his house on sandy ground. The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against his house. It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined."
I've chosen to live on a barrier island. I love the beach. It's worth the hassle, and I don't think that passage from Matthew is meant to be a literal prohibition against living on a barrier island. Peace, msi.
That wasn't the point...not my point, at least. I know it was a metaphor for faith in God, but it's true, isn't it? Don't build on loose foundations. That's what happened to the tower of Pisa. Building on temporary, movable islands is foolish, those are the front lines for hurricanes (they're created by hurricanes too). Pretty beach, but it's not an intelligent place to live. Maybe it's worth it to you, but I always shake my head, watching the news after a hurricane at all these people who seem so surprised that their house was washed away. Like they couldn't have forseen it.
it's kinda flacid. my take on the building on sand is that if you're building on sand because you consider it worth the hassle, then you shouldn't be getting money from FEMA when you get all fucked up.
The universe murders us, puts us through horrible pain, gives us incredible joys, beautiful experiences, wonderful pleasures, and on it goes. The people of New Orleans now learn the hard lessons of life on planet earth, a tragic planet yet with a sense of humor. May all suffering end.
Actually that area did fine til they built the levees. That stopped soil from being deposited by the ebb and flow of the tides of the region. Destroyed acres of wetlands and the buffer zone between any potential hurricanes and the city. Also, the giant walls will serve very well to hold all the water IN after the walls are breached by the waves and rains.
Once a hurricane hits land it slows down considerably. Anyhow it looks like the only part of NOLA most people care about (the French Quarter) will survive. Lake Pontchartrain looks pretty f(cked though, and there's flooding to the roofs in most areas.
Momentarily. It's still tingling though. Yeah. They should make buildings that float on sand, so that they just get moved around whenever a hurricane shows up. Have some clause written into property ownership on the shoreline that your house stays where it is after it is moved by a storm in relation to the shore (so if it gets pushed back behind another persons house, they get the shoreline spot, they just have to move their house forward a bit), unless you can get other people around you to agree to let you move it (sell them back the shoreling spot). This would solve all of the problems and make it a lot more interesting to live on the coast during hurricane season. Your house 2 rows back might become beechfront property. The hurricane lottery. People would be rooting for the storms then. Come on, move that house 2 inches behind mine so I get the beechfront!!!
we used to go down to the beach and film houses falling into the ocean. good fun!! and there's nothing like fishing PCH.
The Blues muso's can now extend their repertoir but are still stuck with the same old line "my girl she up and left". There may even be a Mississippi mud festival instead of jazz one this year!
It appears that the aftermath is going to worse than the storm itself. Keep praying for the best. I can ill afford it, but I believe that I will send $40 to the Salvation Army.