Why they need to get the water out of New Orleans ASAP

[NNN0LHI]

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/050830neworleans.asp

<snip>As Katrina spills rain into the center of the country, the worst may be yet to come, says Robert B. Flowers, CEO of HNTB Federal Services Corp., Washington, D.C.-based engineering security consultant. Flowers, former chief of the Corps, headed the Mississippi River Commission, from 1995-97. The river drains about 40% of the continental U.S., a vast area stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, he points out. "If we get big rainfall up through the Ohio Valley, Kentucky and Tennessee, with water moving downriver for a week or so, we could be looking at a real situation. The longer we have water against the levees from one side and rising floodwaters against them from the other, the more we're looking at erosion and possible catastrophic failure."

[Old and In the Way]

1. It has to be the #1 priority along with recovery of bodies, right now.

[leveymg]

8. There's another water-related problem.

CNN: 5 die after being infected with cholera-related bacteria
At the bottom of this CNN article, the growing threat of disease claims more lives.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/07/katrina.impact/index.html
New Orleans mayor orders holdouts removed

# The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that five people have died in the area hit by Hurricane Katrina after becoming infected with Vibrio vulnificus, typically a more benign relative of the bacteria that cause cholera. One of the fatalities occurred in Texas; the other four were in Mississippi, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

XXXX

What is Vibrio vulnificus?
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/vibriovulnif...

Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It normally lives in warm seawater and is part of a group of vibrios that are called "halophilic" because they require salt.

What type of illness does V. vulnificus cause?

V. vulnificus can cause disease in those who eat eat contaminated seafood or have an open wound that is exposed to seawater. Among healthy people, ingestion of V. vulnificus can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In immunocompromised persons, particularly those with chronic liver disease, V. vulnificus can infect the bloodstream, causing a severe and life-threatening illness characterized by fever and chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock), and blistering skin lesions. V. vulnificus bloodstream infections are fatal about 50% of the time.

XXXX

This is the part that applies most to rescue workers:
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 02:34 PM by leveymg

V. vulnificus can cause disease in those who . . . have an open wound that is exposed to seawater. . . V. vulnificus can infect the bloodstream, causing a severe and life-threatening illness characterized by fever and chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock), and blistering skin lesions. V. vulnificus bloodstream infections are fatal about 50% of the time.

Anyone climbing around in storm-damaged structures is going to be at great risk of cuts, scrapes, punctures and other wounds that will likely be exposed to contaminated seawater.

What should that tell us? If your job was to protect life and safety of personnel under your command, would you order your people into storm water-filled structures to search for bodies? Hell, no.

This tells me that it is unlikely that were will be a large-scale recovery effort to recover bodies inside structures. The approach will then be, in some areas, to demolish and burn the debris.

This is one reason why the authorities are now trying really hard to get everyone to leave New Orleans. No cameras, please.

[KoKo]

11. You think there will be "controlled burning" in NO? Or burn it all?

I've thought that all along. That either a fire would break out from the gas and oil in the water and burn the whole city down, or that it would be so much of a health threat that the city would be declared a National Diaster and it would be burned to the ground to get rid of the toxins.

I don't think they want to tell us that....:tinfoilhat: and I hope my thought is totally tinfoil because it's too horrible to think about.
:-(

[DemoTex]

13. If NOLA burns, lookout downwind (east of NO).

There will be some toxic shit in the air for hundreds and hundreds of miles, as quick as you can say "Gulf War Syndrome."

[eleonora]

2. yes and let's not forget

we're pumping foul water back into our precious wetlands :cry:

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Unfortunately, that is the best place for it at the moment

the wetlands are a very good filter and that is one of the big reasons why we need to preserve them. They even have plants that they are using in wetland restoration that pull the pollutants out of the water.

[Journeyman]

10. Here in South California the water districts create artificial wetlands...

along the riverways to act as the first step to filtering and cleaning the waters as they pass through rural and suburban areas. Overall, the process has been immensely successful, the water leaves the wetlands far cleaner than it enters, and there's absolutely no chemicals or expensive machinery involved. There's the added benefit, too, that it creates needed habitats for a wide range of birds and animals.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Nothing can be done about that

And for the crazies out there no I don't hate the wetlands.

Don

[tx_dem41]

7. Believe me....Lake Pontchartrain is far from precious....

and hasn't been for years and years.

[eleonora]

12. I know, I'm from there...

But they were making strides cleaning it up, they had reintroduced species too...I know this isn't the priority right now, but this is also to be blamed for.

[William769]

3. There was a big argument here last night

About not draining the water because it is contaminated. There is just no pleasing some people here.

I have advocated since the beginning to drain the water as soon as possible. During disasters sometimes you just can't do the right thing.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. "A real situation"?

As opposed to the unreal one we've been looking at?

[bklyncowgirl]

9. Because the longer the water remains in the city..

The harder the recovery effort, the more damage to buildings--including people's houses, and the worse the health effects.

Alot of those houses are sadly going to be uninhabitable. We're talking physical damage, mold etc. Draining the waters may save those that are less inundated.

[NNN0LHI]

14. I am more worried about the earthen levees becoming saturated...

...and turning into mush. If that occurs all is lost.

Don

[Mein Bush]

15. Coca Cola has plans to bottle it!

Once bottled, Halliburton will distribute the stuff back to the "poor folks of New Orleans".

Bill O'Reilly will then fake some outrage over Halliburton's quarterly earnings.

[Catherine Vincent]

16. It's seems they're more concerned with arresting looters.