I'm obviously a fan of conspiracy theories. I strongly believe the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen, amongst other things. So I'm always on the lookout for new stuff. One new theory coming out of the Astrodome is that the levees in New Orleans were specifically blown to avoid flooding the downtown, French Quarter and Garden District regions. It sounds interesting, but I find it hard to believe.
First, there is the physics of it. The French Quarter is just higher up than other parts of the city. So even if water went in there first it would roll downhill until it went to where it is now. One might argue that having transited through the quarter would be bad enough, but there was water in the Quarter. And I spent a lot of time in the Quarter and most of it is well raised off of the street level.
Then there is the pragmatic angle of it. Let's say the levees were blown. Is that such a bad thing? The water is going to go to where it is now anyway. So the only choices were flood the existing area, or flood the existing area and ruin the only tourist draw the city has.
Posted by jherr at September 8, 2005 07:10 AMThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
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