VMC SURVEY BOARD

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Thoughts about New Orleans:

The obvious: It's a God-awful mess.

Big changes will occur in the area:
Baton Rouge will grow. Only question is how much.
Awhile back, Galveston was a large and thriving city. A hurricane came thru and devastated the city. After that, many companies and people relocated to the Houston area. Similarly NO has been devastated by Katrina, and many companies and people are already relocating to Baton Rouge. Perhaps that's just part of the natural order of things, but it is very possible that NO will not be rebuilt totally like all the optimists assume it will be. It is much more likely (and perhaps more responsible) that some parts of NO, particularly those associated with the port, will be rebuilt. It is also likely that a large portion of the devastated residential areas will be rebuilt inland, that is, away from the areas so far below sea level.

Fixing or replacing the inadequate levee system:
Supposedly the Amsterdam, Netherlands area is surrounded by a double levee system which provides protection in case the outer levee is breached. This approach is very expensive, but if NO is rebuilt, we should expect a double levee system or something much more massive than the Cat3 levee that has been proven to be inadequate.