>>>>>>>>>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.
>>>>
>>>>Determination must be real.
>>>>
>>>>What negatively struck me, seeing television, were the many robbers. They were having a great time.
>>>
>>>Here is a link to the flood in the Netherlands of 1953
>>>
>>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Flood_of_1953
>>>
>>>New Orleans has to contend with a lake while the Netherlands is concerned with the North Sea.
>>
>>That flood has led to the Delta Works. See http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Delta_Works
>>
>>It was a prestigeous project that took several decades to finish and it can be regarded as a proof of how serious we have taken that disaster. Notice that we haven't reclaimed the flooded land.
>This raises a several interesting issues.
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1560351,00.html

From an article in my Dutch newspaper I understand that the American Army Corps of Engineers builds levees with an average chance of breakthrough once in 230 years. In the Netherlands the norm is once in 1250 years for the river areas and once in 10,000 years for the cities. According to a Dutch professor the Americans have a different idea about risks.