OldVol
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2005
- Messages
- 1,947
- Likes
- 631
I just heard the head of the Army Corps of Engineers speak on C-Span.
He was asked why the corps did not construct a levee system that would support a category 3-5 storm.
His answer, and I'm paraphrasing, 'They build systems that will hold up to a 99.5% situation.'
In other words, the likely percentage of a direct strike was smaller in theory than in reality. What was not expected to happen did happen.
I understand that strategy and accept it as reasonable.
What he also stated about the situation is something that I believe everyone should step back and consider.
He asked this question: Why do people live in NO? (Knowing it is a bowl city sitting 6 to 25 feet below sea level)
His answer to his own question was: Why do people live in San Francisco, why do people live in LA? (Theyre going to have a catastrophic earth quake; it's the same scenario as the unlikely direct hit of a category 4 or 5 on New Orleans)
His answer: Because it's where they live.
It's just that simple. We as Americans call any number of dangerous places home. We build our homes on rivers and streams that flood, near volcanoes that erupt, in wooded areas that can crush our homes (that's me, I live in a log home with large trees all around my home. Some have asked why don't you get those trees away from your home: My answer; then it wouldn't be like I'm living in the woods, why build a log home and put it in a naked lot? It is what I choose to do and I pay dear insurance premiums as a result of it.)
There will be a devastating earth quake some day on the West Coast. Will the administration in charge at that time be blamed for it? Is there any sense of fairness to do that? Will the government be prepared to deal with thousands of deaths, millions of displaced citizens, the dead and dying? No!
Who is to blame?
We all are.
Who will pay the price, rebuild, shore up the levees, rebuild the earth quake torn regions, the storm ravaged Gulf Coast?
We all will. We are Americans. We should stop the complaining and begin asking the question; what can I do? We should not be looking for blame at this juncture. No one was to blame for the hurricane. Galveston was destroyed at a time when global warming wasn't even a part of our vocabulary.
We should work together to ease the pain of the suffering, restore order to their lives, and help rebuild their homes and businesses.
We're Americans. It's what we do.
He was asked why the corps did not construct a levee system that would support a category 3-5 storm.
His answer, and I'm paraphrasing, 'They build systems that will hold up to a 99.5% situation.'
In other words, the likely percentage of a direct strike was smaller in theory than in reality. What was not expected to happen did happen.
I understand that strategy and accept it as reasonable.
What he also stated about the situation is something that I believe everyone should step back and consider.
He asked this question: Why do people live in NO? (Knowing it is a bowl city sitting 6 to 25 feet below sea level)
His answer to his own question was: Why do people live in San Francisco, why do people live in LA? (Theyre going to have a catastrophic earth quake; it's the same scenario as the unlikely direct hit of a category 4 or 5 on New Orleans)
His answer: Because it's where they live.
It's just that simple. We as Americans call any number of dangerous places home. We build our homes on rivers and streams that flood, near volcanoes that erupt, in wooded areas that can crush our homes (that's me, I live in a log home with large trees all around my home. Some have asked why don't you get those trees away from your home: My answer; then it wouldn't be like I'm living in the woods, why build a log home and put it in a naked lot? It is what I choose to do and I pay dear insurance premiums as a result of it.)
There will be a devastating earth quake some day on the West Coast. Will the administration in charge at that time be blamed for it? Is there any sense of fairness to do that? Will the government be prepared to deal with thousands of deaths, millions of displaced citizens, the dead and dying? No!
Who is to blame?
We all are.
Who will pay the price, rebuild, shore up the levees, rebuild the earth quake torn regions, the storm ravaged Gulf Coast?
We all will. We are Americans. We should stop the complaining and begin asking the question; what can I do? We should not be looking for blame at this juncture. No one was to blame for the hurricane. Galveston was destroyed at a time when global warming wasn't even a part of our vocabulary.
We should work together to ease the pain of the suffering, restore order to their lives, and help rebuild their homes and businesses.
We're Americans. It's what we do.
