Long before Katrina hit New Orleans I determined that there was no chance that I would ever move there. It is not like there was much chance of me ever moving to the Bayou, but even if I would consider moving that far south, the idea of living in a city along the gulf coast below sea level just sounded unsafe.
Now everyone knows the dangers of living in New Orleans. Even so, many people have decided to move back to the city, and the federal government has committed to rebuilding the city. While this may represent some bravery, to me it is just a little ludicrous as well. There is no question whether another Katrina will happen. The question is whether the next Katrina happens in one year or in four hundred years. Add to that the potential of rising sea levels, and I start to question the sanity of the people who are willing to take the risk of living there, and the sanity of a government who will have to bail out the city again when that occurs.
I think it is hilarious to be around people who did not grow up in the Midwest when tornado and thunderstorm season starts up. I remember one person from Taiwan who I was doing a group project with at KU a couple of years ago pointed out that tornadoes were much scarier than typhoons. Truthfully, there are few places in the United States that I would feel safer than in the Midwest because anyone who has lived here long knows that, while it is tornado alley, a four-hundred-mile wide hurricane is a bit larger than the typical tornado, and much more difficult to avoid.
Last year, SustainLane.com ranked fifty United States cities on economic, environmental, health, and social sustainability risks due to natural disasters. Actually, Miami ranked worse than New Orleans. Even if I intended to move any time in the near future, I can guarantee that I would avoid the cities I have already mentioned as well as the entire California coast. A simple life in Kansas City is better than a homeless one in San Francisco.
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5 comments:
I concur. Glad we are on the same page. I do feel for those who lived in New Orleans. Sometimes, there is no place like home.
I like the midwest. I've always thought I could be happy anywhere, a city is a city. If you've seen/lived in one you've seen them all. Dash has always stated he'd only live in the midwest.
The west coast isn't that bad off. The only natural disaster Portland would face is Mt.St. Helens going off. When it did years ago, Portland wasn't very effected. With all the rain, you would think flooding would be a problem, but the rivers never seem to raise that much. I do feel bad for the people of New Orleans and I can understand why residents may want to return (although I wouldn't), but perhaps if they can improve the levee system there, they may prevent another disaster.
Note Wisconsin is not very likely to have natural disasters. Blizzards maybe, but they didn't count that in the criteria.
Reading this post, I noticed that it can look like I don't care about the pain of those in New Orleans. That is not true. I am just trying to look at the situation practically and take into consideration planning that would avoid another tragedy.
I honestly believe that that some time in the future Katrina will repeat unless the New Orleans population is moved well above sea level.
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