New Orleans Has to Work Fast to Avoid Washing Away by 2050
According to  Gerry Galloway   another civil engineering professor at the University of Maryland  in the storm preparedness game  the category of a hurricane  from one to five  was once the measure of potential devastation. "We learned from Katrina that's not the case " he said. What people should worry about is rainfall and storm surge (water blown in by hurricane winds)  which may seem intertwined if you've never been on the ground during a hurricane  but are actually two distinct phenomena.
"In the months after Katrina " said  Galloway   "the big issue was that there was still water in many places that they were pumping out as fast as they could  and then they'd get another storm  or a hurricane would come in and dump more water."
More bad news: "The residents have to recognize that they have a residual risk from the levee they have right now  if you have a Katrina-like event  or something bigger " Galloway told me. Moreover  with climate change will come sea level rise  and that in turn has the potential to make Katrina-like events  with their once-every-500-years storm surge  into a horrifyingly common phenomenon.
One thing's for sure: In New Orleans  as with everywhere in the US  it's poor and generally minority communities that suffer the most. In  his  recent work as a visiting professor at Texas A&M   Galloway  told me   he  and A&M professor Sam Brody found that "areas that flood tend to be areas where there is low income." That produces a confluence of problems   he  said. Sixty-three percent of Americans can't cobble together $500 in an emergency. Meanwhile  the truly poor   he  went on  don't have cars  can't afford plane tickets  and may not be able to afford a motel room at a safer elevation   Galloway  pointed out.
Still   Galloway  told me  "I expect to have a beignet and coffee at Cafe Du Monde in the year 2050."  He  said the levee may need to be heightened  but New Orleans will at least survive. Then  he  added  somewhat grimly: "Maybe not all of the city. That may be one of the solutions you have to deal with. You may have to use part of the city for emergency water storage."
By "emergency water storage "  he  clarified that  he  meant something like the way China evacuates flood basins  relocating sometimes millions of people during monsoon floods as a form of "water detention." Forced mass migration certainly doesn't sound like an ideal system  and  Galloway  clarified that  he 's not proposing it for New Orleans. But if there are desperate times ahead  desperate measures may have to be taken.
New Orleans Has to Work Fast to Avoid Washing Away by 2050
According to  Gerry Galloway   another civil engineering professor at the University of Maryland  in the storm preparedness game  the category of a hurricane  from one to five  was once the measure of potential devastation. "We learned from Katrina that's not the case " he said. What people should worry about is rainfall and storm surge (water blown in by hurricane winds)  which may seem intertwined if you've never been on the ground during a hurricane  but are actually two distinct phenomena. "In the months after Katrina " said  Galloway   "the big issue was that there was still water in many places that they were pumping out as fast as they could  and then they'd get another storm  or a hurricane would come in and dump more water. "
More bad news: "The residents have to recognize that they have a residual risk from the levee they have right now  if you have a Katrina-like event  or something bigger " Galloway told me. Moreover  with climate change will come sea level rise  and that in turn has the potential to make Katrina-like events  with their once-every-500-years storm surge  into a horrifyingly common phenomenon. One thing's for sure: In New Orleans  as with everywhere in the US  it's poor and generally minority communities that suffer the most. In  his  recent work as a visiting professor at Texas A&M   Galloway  told me   he  and A&M professor Sam Brody found that "areas that flood tend to be areas where there is low income. " That produces a confluence of problems   he  said. Sixty-three percent of Americans can't cobble together $500 in an emergency. Meanwhile  the truly poor   he  went on  don't have cars  can't afford plane tickets  and may not be able to afford a motel room at a safer elevation   Galloway  pointed out. Still   Galloway  told me  "I expect to have a beignet and coffee at Cafe Du Monde in the year 2050. "  He  said the levee may need to be heightened  but New Orleans will at least survive. Then  he  added  somewhat grimly: "Maybe not all of the city. That may be one of the solutions you have to deal with. You may have to use part of the city for emergency water storage. "
By "emergency water storage "  he  clarified that  he  meant something like the way China evacuates flood basins  relocating sometimes millions of people during monsoon floods as a form of "water detention. " Forced mass migration certainly doesn't sound like an ideal system  and  Galloway  clarified that  he 's not proposing it for New Orleans. But if there are desperate times ahead  desperate measures may have to be taken.