To me, the worst part of this situation, and with Katrina, is that people knew it was going to happen. I'm not talking days in advance, I'm talking years. I was a sophomore in high school, so figure this was 98-99, and read an article, complete with diagram, of what the consequences would be should a Cat 5 hurricane make a direct hit on New Orleans.
Everything in that article, from 6+ years before Katrina, happened when she blew through there. They knew in the late 90s that those levees couldn't withstand a direct hit from a strong hurricane. They just chose not to do anything about it. The city was poorly designed in the first place, located with much of it below sea level. The wetlands have been destroyed, leaving NO with no barrier between strong hurricanes and the city itself. Climate change is warming the oceans, which aids in developing more frequent and stronger tropical systems. And then the local government turns a blind eye to the inadequate levee system. It all added up in a terrible way when Katrina hit, but it could've been avoided, at least to some degree.
Obviously this storm is nothing compared to Katrina, but eventually another Cat 5 will make its way through New Orleans, hopefully the preparation is better that time around.
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