New Orleans has been Falluja'd...by Mother Nature

[Roland99]

I am just speechless now.

The levee repair effort failed and barring some miracle, the bowl that is New Orleans will now fill up with water, inundating the city.

I saw video footage on WDSU's streaming video (now out of WESH in Orlando as they're on a bit of a break) that showed the entire downtown area's streets under water and the prisoners and guards that fled to the top of that on-ramp.


I can't imagine a tactical nuke could have done a more thorough job of taking out a major American city.

[lildreamer316]

1. That pesky Law of Three

will get you every time.
I mean the law of physics.
For every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction.

[AX10]

2. I would have said that...

"New Orleans has been Tasered...by Mother Nature"

But the effect is disaterous either way and it's horrible.

An MSNBC commentator said that Katrina carried the power of a 'nuclear bomb' and that commentator was correct, 110%!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. Ummmmm, it's way worse than that, see the real numbers here

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html

Subject: C5c) Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them ?
During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms. Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems. Needless to say, this is not a good idea.

Now for a more rigorous scientific explanation of why this would not be an effective hurricane modification technique. The main difficulty with using explosives to modify hurricanes is the amount of energy required. A fully developed hurricane can release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 20x1013 watts and converts less than 10% of the heat into the mechanical energy of the wind. The heat release is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes. According to the 1993 World Almanac, the entire human race used energy at a rate of 1013 watts in 1990, a rate less than 20% of the power of a hurricane.

If we think about mechanical energy, the energy at humanity's disposal is closer to the storm's, but the task of focusing even half of the energy on a spot in the middle of a remote ocean would still be formidable. Brute force interference with hurricanes doesn't seem promising.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. This is all going down just a little over a hundred miles from here

don't you know we are breathing a sigh of relief but only a small one after seeing this TOTAL DEVASTATION. How many pumps could 200 billion dollars buy, how many levees could it reinforce, how many shelters could it build, how many AMERICANS could it protect and shelter, rather than defense contractors and their leeches.

[Roland99]

5. If man had left the Mississippi River alone....

[despairing optimist]

4. Watch Pat Robertson go on the air and blame the French

"Why did those God-forsaken people, with their pagan existentialists and Pascal and Descartes and frogs and snails in garlic-butter sauce, ever situate their city of sin at the mouth of the Mississippi? It was the work of Satan! And who knows what they're saying with their French words? It could be devil worship and we don't even know it!

"Now I'm not saying we should take anyone out. Lord knows, I got into enough trouble last week and I'm an old man now and not quick enough on my feet to dodge the bullets of my godless adversaries. But there's something wrong about that Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon got the better end of the deal, and us American God-loving folk should consider some recompense besides pastries and Dubonnet."

[PearliePoo2]

6. I just got home from work

and I have been out out the loop.
What is the situation with the people in the SuperDome?
Is there a prison riot that is out of control?
The water is rising and NO is screwed now?
Oh my god!
* is sniffing the political winds and decided to put away his f*****g golf clubs as per his advisor's input?

[Roland99]

9. Superdome has been ordered to be evacuated

There was a riot in some prison somewhere and hostages were taken.

There are prisoners guarded by armed guards on top of the Broad St. ramp.

The levee repair effort failed.

[bloom]

8. With help from people.

Global warming. That actually means all of us.

With extra help from those who diverted the River so it wasn't going through the swamps.

And then the fact that people built the city the way it is there.

The New Orleans disaster is manmade in nearly every way. I don't think we should really blame nature.

[shance]

10. This is about abusing Mother Nature through climate manipulation.

Don't blame her.