New Data: Katrina Was Cat 3, Cat 1 At Landfall?

This makes a full rebuild of New Orleans a much harder sell.

If the city is so perilously situated that it cannot resist a Category ONE hurricane (at landfall) without suffering billions in damage... can we really afford to rebuild it?

I'm a sentimentalist and I'm also a little stubborn. I'm kinda-sorta in favor of a fairly extensive rebuild of the city... or at least I was. When I assumed that some smarter planning and some stronger, taller levees could keep New Orleans relatively safe.

But if the city will be destroyed everytime a Category 3 hurricane blows through, then reality and prudence have to trump sentimentality and stubborness.

Edit: This post is based on as-of-yet unproven computer modeling and such. So I was wrong to headline it as if it were an established fact.

Thanks to Strom for calling me on my loose shit.

posted by Ace at 01:07 PM

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