>>>>No one is talking right now about the tremendous opportunity this disaster presents because of all the carnage, but once everything dries out and the water receeds, there's going to be a huge demand for construction. The economy will come back roaring in the area. Half of Mexico will be in New Orleans helping put it back together! I guess it's like the acorn dropping to the ground, being interred, then turning into a giant oak tree. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but New Orleans will spring back to life soon!
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>>>You write that 'once everything dries out and the water receeds'. How will that gonna happen? It is all below the sea level and the lake level. So, it won't stream back. Remains: pumping it out, which will be a huge undertaking, and/or dampening by the sun. Possible?
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>>New Orleans has always had the pumping stations in place and were always in operation to handle rainfall, etc. The problem is the failed levee that Lake Pontchartrain is now spilling through. That is what is flooding New Orleans. The first morning after the hurricane, the city was not flooded. Until they can get power back to the pumps and the levee breach repaired, water levels will rise to the level of the Lake.
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>Yes, pumping it back is possible, of course. But the higher the water is, the longer that will take. It may take months! And if the water gets as high as the lake, it will gonna take years to pump it dry!

Just remember they only have to pump it a very short distance - up and over the levees that divide the city from the Mississippi river. But yes it could take months to do this. I would expect them to bring in more pumps. The city is literally right next to the river and my 10 year old could throw a rock from the city side of the levee into the river.