Latest Top Gear - New Orleans STILL not fixed?

[Paul_G]

I just got done watching the latest Top Gear (For those who don't know, it's a motoring programme in the UK), and in case you didn't watch it, Jeremy, Richard and James did a big challenge in the US. They had to buy a car for $1000 and perform several challenges in them, which for those who haven't seen but intend to, i won't spoil. However I will say that a main part of the show was a journey from Miami to New Orleans. MY GOD!! The state of the place! this was filmed last summer, so it had been a year since Katrina and it was in total disarray. To paraphrase Clarkson

'I've been driving for 15 minutes down this road, and i've not seen a single building that isn't smashed'

How can things still be this bad there? As Clarkson also points out, this is the richest country on earth we're talking about, and yet the crisis is still ongoing. If something like that happened here, I cannot say for certain of course, but I believe it would be fixed, or being fixed, 1 year on. Does anyone live round there, or has visited recently? Is it really as bad as the show suggests?

I just feel shocked and even saddened that a country so rich and powerful could carry on almost as if nothing had happened when clearly this is still not resolved. Originally the challenge had been to try and sell their cheap vehicles again in New Orleans, but seeing the level of suffering and poverty in place there, they gave their cars away to needy families, which i thought was a nice gesture.

 

[Skrying]

About once a month one of the national news programs is shown from New Orleans, otherwise people just seem to ignore it and give "We've heard enough" type of groan when they hear about it.

 

[Darkon]

I just got done watching the latest Top Gear (For those who don't know, it's a motoring programme in the UK), and in case you didn't watch it, Jeremy, Richard and James did a big challenge in the US. They had to buy a car for $1000 and perform several challenges in them, which for those who haven't seen but intend to, i won't spoil. However I will say that a main part of the show was a journey from Miami to New Orleans. MY GOD!! The state of the place! this was filmed last summer, so it had been a year since Katrina and it was in total disarray. To paraphrase Clarkson

'I've been driving for 15 minutes down this road, and i've not seen a single building that isn't smashed'

How can things still be this bad there? As Clarkson also points out, this is the richest country on earth we're talking about, and yet the crisis is still ongoing. If something like that happened here, I cannot say for certain of course, but I believe it would be fixed, or being fixed, 1 year on. Does anyone live round there, or has visited recently? Is it really as bad as the show suggests?

I just feel shocked and even saddened that a country so rich and powerful could carry on almost as if nothing had happened when clearly this is still not resolved. Originally the challenge had been to try and sell their cheap vehicles again in New Orleans, but seeing the level of suffering and poverty in place there, they gave their cars away to needy families, which i thought was a nice gesture.

yeah and Clarkson almost got sued because of that.


that episode should be on the list soon for downloading


http://www.finalgear.com/shows/topgear/

What was up with Stig, why was he bloated ? I missed half the show.

 

[Skrying]

yeah and Clarkson almost got sued because of that.

By who? Why?

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

What was up with Stig, why was he bloated ? I missed half the show.

That wasn't the Stig that was his cousin "US Stig", AKA "Fat Stig".

The bit where they almost got lynched in hicksville was hilarious. Or the cow on the roof of the Camero.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

By who? Why?

The intention was that at the end of the trip, they would sell the cars. However, when they got to New Orleans and saw the destruction, they decided to give them away. They contacted a reconstruction charity to find out who they could give these cars to. They wanted to give them to someone who had lost their cars and couldn't afford to get a new one. Clarkson gave the wrong information about his car (said it was a couple of years younger than it was), and the a lawyer from the charity threatened to sue him for "misrepresentation". The lawyer offered to drop the suit for $20,000 dollars.

 

[Graham]

I was in the US when katrina hit. In seattle.
I first read about it on a new zealand news website. My parents back home were telling me about it - as it was all over their news. Huge story.

It didn't get on the tv where I was in a major way for over a week, the only mention being a possible delay to some american football game they had going on. Of course stories about planes crashing in france - and people being on their cellphone while the plane went down, missing kids, etc, were top stories. Things like that.

A local guy I knew asked me if I knew why petrol prices were so high. I told him new orleans had been practically destroyed and was half underwater. He was basically in shock. This was 9 days later.

Where I was working, there was a very pretty girl who I was working with .. Anyway she wasn't there for a couple of days... so I asked someone where she'd gone, and I was told she'd gone home to see her parents in the 'underwater city' (which was a joke he apparently always used). That was the day it hit.

Just some of the little things I remember about then

So in a sense I understand why nothing much has been done. It was a very surreal experience in a lot of ways. It got more international attention than anything else.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/07/new_orleans_shrinkag.html

 

[Bludd]

That was an epic episode. I bet they'll win some sort of "cocking about" award for it.

 

[Sxotty]

Well we heard about it before it even happened so... and it was on CNN etc...

It was on the local news, it was on all the news. The guy I work with is from Tulane (which is in N.O. btw). And Mississippi actually got hit much worse it is just a lower population density there. The all destroyed buildings are likely there not in Louisiana. Anyway it isn't much on the news anymore because there isn't much new about it. Things have stagnated though you do still see things once and awhile.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

Buildings aren't still smashed because of a lack of caring, motivation, or money, but simply because of a lack of contractors, laborers, and supplies.

If you had money in pocket and wanted your home rebuilt right after Katrina, you had to get into a pretty long line.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Buildings aren't still smashed because of a lack of caring, motivation, or money, but simply because of a lack of contractors, laborers, and supplies.

If you had money in pocket and wanted your home rebuilt right after Katrina, you had to get into a pretty long line.

I watched I believe CNN this morning and they said constructionworkers had 33% less orders than a year before so I doubt there really wasnt anyone to build your house.

How can things still be this bad there? As Clarkson also points out, this is the richest country on earth we're talking about, and yet the crisis is still ongoing.

Maybe because they dont care?

But I loved the show, the ranting about america and their cars was so funny. But the disturbing thing is that though most seems to be just ranting, there actually is a point is most comments they make.

 

[SugarCoat]

About once a month one of the national news programs is shown from New Orleans, otherwise people just seem to ignore it and give "We've heard enough" type of groan when they hear about it.

I wont feel bad for people who are so stubborn that they wont move the city further inland but instead wish to rebuild it in its exact same location so it gets destroyed again. To be honest i AM sick of hearing about it. Its a shining example of how the human race can fail, lets spend billions to rebuild a large densely populated city right next to the ocean which is on land under sea level and will get hit by more hurricanes. What a superb idea.

Alot of families got a very healthy check from the government as well which was worth far more then the slums they were living in as well Skrying. The event was a tragedy for sure but the rebuilding effort is something i really couldnt care less about, all the people who are going to sit right back on that ticking time bomb are all idiots to me. Anyone with brains would of taken Katrina as a lesson and left.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

They rebuilt San Francisco and LA after earthquakes. They are still sitting on faultlines waiting for another "big one". Americans still live in notorious tornado states. It's no surprise they want to do the same in New Orleans. People are just dumb like that and don't want to think it will happen to them. They just want their old lives back before everything went wrong.

In that respect Americans are no different from people who go back to live on the side of volcanoes or low lying islands or flood plains.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I wont feel bad for people who are so stubborn that they wont move the city further inland but instead wish to rebuild it in its exact same location so it gets destroyed again. To be honest i AM sick of hearing about it.

You dont know what you are talking about. You can protect yourself from floods. Just look at Holland, most of our country lays below the sea and we are perfectly fine because we have build good dikes.

And as the poster above said, what about LA and SF who are in earthquake eara's? Wasnt SF totally destroid one time and rebuilt? why didnt they move? or what about Japan? why doesnt 75% of Japan just move somewhere else just becase they live in a earthquake erea? Its not strange that people rebuild their homes. Even if you call is stupid to go live in the same place again, some people just dont have a choice for other reasons. Like work for example, not all people have a good education so they dont have any problems with finding a job if they move. If you are a factory worker or whatever you cant just move to a city 100miles away thinking everything will be allright. And that is just one reason.

Your post kinda proves one of the other points Clarkson made about americans.

 

[SugarCoat]

You dont know what you are talking about. You can protect yourself from floods. Just look at Holland, most of our country lays below the sea and we are perfectly fine because we have build good dikes.

And as the poster above said, what about LA and SF who are in earthquake eara's? Wasnt SF totally destroid one time and rebuilt? why didnt they move? or what about Japan? why doesnt 75% of Japan just move somewhere else just becase they live in a earthquake erea? Its not strange that people rebuild their homes. Even if you call is stupid to go live in the same place again, some people just dont have a choice for other reasons. Like work for example, not all people have a good education so they dont have any problems with finding a job if they move. If you are a factory worker or whatever you cant just move to a city 100miles away thinking everything will be allright. And that is just one reason.

Your post kinda proves one of the other points Clarkson made about americans.

Do tell, how many hurricanes does Holland have a year on average?

You can build buildings to withstand earthquakes, we have the technology in place to help reduce the amount of damage that a bad earthquake would cause, the total destruction of SF you're talking about happened in 1906 and much of the destruction was caused by the fires as well as a total lack of a good fire department which allowed the city to burn for about a week. The same cannot be said about buildings and water, as far as i know there arent cities with all the homes ready to withstand a rush of enough water to cover it. And the problem with the current location of New Orleans isnt only the threat from the ocean but the threat from the Mississippi river that runs straight through the city. Because the entire area is below sea level you simply cannot remove water fast enough without some serious time and money investment which frankly most of the population of New Orleans couldnt make to begin with and the government (both state and federal) wasnt doing much to help. Basically the entire city was totaled, they had the option to move inland, and they didnt because of stubborn pride.

The cities weakness was and always will be the threat of flood. It statistically gets hit with the most hurricanes of any place in the country and has one of the largest rivers in the country running straight through the center, do you think thats a good decision to rebuild it on the exact same spot when they can move? In my opinion the other places you list as your comparable examples to help you prove your point are totally asinine. The decision to rebuild a city like new orleans where it is, is something i would expect from third world country because they're simply too poor, not the worlds largest super power.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Do tell, how many hurricanes does Holland have a year on average?

Never. But its water that damaged NO, not wind.

You can build buildings to withstand earthquakes, we have the technology in place to help reduce the amount of damage that a bad earthquake would cause

And we can build dikes to protect whole cities against floods. I even dare to bet that it would cost less money, and offer more protection to save cities from flooding that it would cost to protect cities against earthquakes.

as far as i know there arent cities with all the homes ready to withstand a rush of enough water to cover it.

Only a very big part of Holland.

And the problem with the current location of New Orleans isnt only the threat from the ocean but the threat from the Mississippi river that runs straight through the city. Because the entire area is below sea level you simply cannot remove water fast enough without some serious time and money investment which frankly most of the population of New Orleans couldnt make to begin with and the government (both state and federal) wasnt doing much to help.

Thats because the goverment screwed up, not because its not possible. In Holland we also got big rivers that flood. You might have heard of ''de waternoodramp'' in 1953 wich caused a big flood. After that we build a whole range of dikes and the deltaplan and gave the rivers enough room to expand in a case of flood. Now the houses dont flood anymore incase of a big storm. Also, not being able to remove water fast is a screwup by the goverment. After the flood Holland sent I believe one or two of the pumps we use to drain water. Those 2 pumps could displace more water than all the pumps NO had if I remember right. Atleast, the stuff NO had was pretty much garbage comparared to only a few of our pumps.

Basically the entire city was totaled, they had the option to move inland, and they didnt because of stubborn pride.

Like I said in me previous post its not only stubborn pride. Besides, we dont move half the country somewhere else either and we dont have any problemens. You just need to take care of your business.

do you think thats a good decision to rebuild it on the exact same spot when they can move?

So when are we gonna move LA and SF? and what about tornado ally? The cities are there, you cant expect them to be moved. Even SF wasnt moved after it was leveld to the ground.

In my opinion the other places you list as your comparable examples to help you prove your point are totally asinine.

Asinine? that means something like stupid right? I dont think my examples are bad. You live where you live and it just isnt always possible to move a whole city somewhere ''safe''.

The decision to rebuild a city like new orleans where it is, is something i would expect from third world country because they're simply too poor, not the worlds largest super power.

Lol well your average 3rd world country atm probably has more money to move a city than the almight US of A has now that just about every penny goes to Iraq. Hasnt Bush been cutting back on just about anything? The usa is going down, only a superpower by all the guns you have but sociaty isnt exactly great and its just a matter of time before countries like China take over.

Besides, there is alot of oil industrie in NO right? that would be one of the major reasons why they cant just pick up and leave.

 

[arjan de lumens]

Do tell, how many hurricanes does Holland have a year on average?

The last time the Dutch dikes broke (in 1953), they were being hit by a 5.6 meter storm surge, something which under normal circumstances requires a Category 5 hurricane. Granted, Category 5-level winds are quite rare in that part of Europe, however it is not all that uncommon with Category 3-level winds, similar to the ones that hit NO.

 

[SugarCoat]

Never. But its water that damaged NO, not wind.

Wrong. Strong winds and rain have a huge effect on how bad erosion, especially around the foundation, can be. Likewise strong wind coupled with alot of water creates huge amounts of pressure behind each wave which can be devastating.

And we can build dikes to protect whole cities against floods. I even dare to bet that it would cost less money, and offer more protection to save cities from flooding that it would cost to protect cities against earthquakes.

Beyond the point, the point is they have the option to and should move.

Only a very big part of Holland.

Really, these homes are all completely watertight? Doubt it.

Thats because the goverment screwed up, not because its not possible. In Holland we also got big rivers that flood. You might have heard of ''de waternoodramp'' in 1953 wich caused a big flood. After that we build a whole range of dikes and the deltaplan and gave the rivers enough room to expand in a case of flood. Now the houses dont flood anymore incase of a big storm. Also, not being able to remove water fast is a screwup by the goverment. After the flood Holland sent I believe one or two of the pumps we use to drain water. Those 2 pumps could displace more water than all the pumps NO had if I remember right. Atleast, the stuff NO had was pretty much garbage comparared to only a few of our pumps.

Yep the government is partly to blame as well as the state, but do you think they'll act any differently now? As far as your comaparison, its yet again kind of funny, but you're talking about a one time event (much like San Francisco) where as New Orleans recieves huge amounts of rainfall and gets hit by Hurricanes on a yearly basis. Yearly, not once every 5-10 decades.

Like I said in me previous post its not only stubborn pride. Besides, we dont move half the country somewhere else either and we dont have any problemens. You just need to take care of your business.

It is, they had an area all picked out where they could of started construction and they declined it. Its a trashed city, not a country.

So when are we gonna move LA and SF? and what about tornado ally? The cities are there, you cant expect them to be moved. Even SF wasnt moved after it was leveld to the ground.

Read what i said about San Francisco because you're beginning to sound ignorant. Just to help you out, Anchorage Alaska would be a better choice then bringing up LA since you continue think massive yearly hurricanes are the same as rare earthquakes anyway.

Asinine? that means something like stupid right? I dont think my examples are bad. You live where you live and it just isnt always possible to move a whole city somewhere ''safe''.

Nope it isnt always possible, but in this case it is/was possible.

Besides, there is alot of oil industrie in NO right? that would be one of the major reasons why they cant just pick up and leave.

Through off the coast rigs yes, the oil is sent to New Orleans because its a large close port but this function can easily be maintained without needing a densely populated city next to it.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

I watched I believe CNN this morning and they said constructionworkers had 33% less orders than a year before so I doubt there really wasnt anyone to build your house.

Are you from Mississippi? Lousiana? Oh.

 

[Skrying]

Are you from Mississippi? Lousiana? Oh.

What? What does that really matter? Unless CNN just made the fact up the point still stands.