>>>>>>>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!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>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?
>>>>>
>>>>>More than possible. It will happen!
>>>>
>>>>How?
>>>
>>>American ingenuity, determination and money! Most important at this time is to prevent furthers deaths.
>>
>>Yep, there must be a tremendous amount of money. Each year we hear about hurricanes that destroy whole cities and each time the cities are rebuilt.
>>
>>The American ingenuity is 'remarkable' indeed. All those houses appear to be so fragile, being mainly from wood. Is that on purpose (fragile is cheaper to rebuild)? And I wonder why the Americans build a whole city in a soup bowl, in an area where hurricanes visit the ground each year. Doesn't sound ingenious to me.
>
>Well, let's not forget that large parts of Netherlands are also below sea level... :)
>
>(see map showing these areas: http://www.minbuza.nl/default.asp?CMS_ITEM=MBZ302750 )

Yes, and as you can see, that's also true for Haarlem, the city where I live. But we don't have hurricanes. Occasionally a storm of power 12 on the scale of Beaufort. All dikes must be able to easilly endure such a storm. And if we find only a tiny piece of some dike somewhere that appears to be fragile, it is a national scandal and debate.