From Superdome to Astrodome

Astrodome seems like a good place. Already have power, air conditioning, plumbing. Now just bring in food , water, and beds. alot easier than building a huge tent city that isnt as sturdy and doesnt have AC. We may have to do this in a number of cities and forego sports for a while until we can get these people permanent places. this is a long term disaster that will change our lives for a long time. the entire country is effected and we will all have to make some sacrifices to get through it. I also liked the idea of using old air force bases with housing and hangers.
 
And how about a few thousand working restrooms and baby facilities for the poor mothers and fathers who have young children? Sanitation comes even before food, I would say, in this case.

To be honest, the thought of going to the ASTROdome after being in the SUPERdome wouldn't fill me with too much hope. Better than the status-quo, yes - but still hell.

I wonder why we cannot provide some more "normal" accommodations for these poor people? I wonder if there is some prefabricated housing scheme that would work much better in the medium-term? Because these people are very shortly going to need far more than a towel on a piece of sports turf.......

I'm all for the floating hotel idea, BTW - why not?

KR
 
We arent just talking this 25,000 people. With every house in NO under water or soon to be we will have to find housing for up to 1 million people!!! there isnt enough hotels, cruise ships etc for that many. there will have to be huge tent cities or places like the atsrodome. it wont be comfortable but it is shelter and will have food, water, plumbing. Portable showers will have to be setup with the help of the military. I just dont feel most people understand the enormity of the situation and how long term this will be. it will take years to rebuild all those houses and all the infastructure. This is a decades issue.
 
Tropical cyclone into Houston/Galveston in September? that just seems fitting given Katrina's pinpoint accuracy in hitting us dead-on in our most vulnerable region.
 
They have to put people somewhere. I've heard estimates of 1 million homeless. Right now a lot of people are at hotels but they won't be able to pay a bill like that for months. A lot of those people will be having to head to shelters eventually. The number will keep growing. People who evacuated north on Hwy 55 have come as far north as St. Louis cause hotels are booked up the whole way from here to there.
 
Tropical cyclone into Houston/Galveston in September? that just seems fitting given Katrina's pinpoint accuracy in hitting us dead-on in our most vulnerable region.
Click to expand...

If Houston/Galveston gets hit with a Cat 5, 4 or even a 3 it would be just about as bad as what happened in NO, Gulfport etc. Galveston, even with the seawall they have is only built for 10/12 foot storm surge would probably put the island underwater just like in 1900. All the new and old homes passed the seawall will be gone. The cosway (well the old one they are making a new one) most likely be unpassable. The ferries would not be running and the port in Galveston would shut down, the refineries would shut down or be destoryed. Then you have the traffic problem if people needed to move inland, I-45 is really the only way out and that road can't hold the cars now. Houston/Galveston is just like NO, Gulfport, it is over due for a hurricaine, hope like h*ll that it stays that way.
 
They have to abandon the Superdome for all the reasons we're hearing on television.

But as Jay points out, the real crisis begins when those who evacuated come back, or want to come back. They won't be able to live in Greater New Orleans, but they'll want to be nearby for a number of reasons: family, tradition, jobs, or whatever. They may be allowed to return to their homes after the water recedes if just to see what's there, or even recover what they can. They won't be allowed to stay.

Thinking about problems like this in the past, I wonder if we won't see a massive "tent city" emerge on the north shore of Lake Ponchatrain. Eventually, plumbing will come, electricity, paved roads, and other amenities. Before you know it, it will grow into a city, and you'll have a new New Orleans, on higher ground, safer, and rebuilt.

I expect the center of New Orleans will be rebuilt however, since the tourist industry is worth hundreds of millions per year. And it should be restored, because it's an important part of this country's heritage, economically, culturally, and historically. New Orleans is one of the great cities in the history of humankind--as Americans we should all be proud of the incredible music and food that was born and matured there. Yet as other have pointed out, the larger area may not be the best place for 1.4 million people to live.

I spent a lot of time with real New Orleans residents, hard-working nurses supporting their families, or the patients my mother cared for in the VA hospital (where my Dad was also a patient once in a while). I know the character of those proud old guys and their sons and daughters. They're not going to be "assimilated" into other American cities. They would rather jump into the lake than live in some of the soul-less bland cities the rest of us are accustomed to. You have to understand, few cities in the world have the unique character and feel of New Orleans. It is not a box store camp. New Orleaneans will stay in the area. Hopefully they won't have to live ten feet below sea level anymore.
 
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