Shades of Atlantis

[unmaker]

NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans, the mayor said Wednesday, an estimate that, if accurate, would make the storm the nation's deadliest natural disaster since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Such a depressing article.Many people, on the news and in the street, are discussing whether or

Comments

[vengeant]

It's not even really a choice. There's gonna be people there, one way or another, and there's gonna be a city's worth of people, too.

The real question is, we can rebuild it, and we can build it better this time, but will we? Or will we just use the cheapest contractors who'll rip us off anyway and leave us with a bigger mess of a city?

[cliffsname]

The levee system and pump system was built to handle a Cat 3 storm.

While avoiding the brunt of this Cat 5, the river and debris killed the levees.

Engineers build for 90%, with a tolerance of 5% at the top and bottom. Ask vengeant how it feels to be in the top 5% of height when on an airplane.

Or watch when an 8 or high quake hits L.A.

It's the classic tradeoff of modern engineering. We can build for higher tolerances, but odds are they won't be needed for a long time.

Betting odds, apparently.