The lights just flickered for the first time. We're about to lose power.
Gustav will hit us with his right shoulder this afternoon. There will be hurricane-force winds for a while, then tropical storm-force winds for the rest of the day.
A friend of mine from college blogged the question recently, "Are some places just plain uninhabitable?" See http://rogovoy.com/news1655.html. My response read:
Hi Seth,Just quickly before the power goes out here in Baton Rouge. You're certainly right that cities in high-risk locations raise existential questions about whether or not "we" should keep rebuilding there. We'll save the question of who the "we" is in this case for another time. In any case, it's partly a question of population density. Given sane, Green flood control technologies (wetlands restoration as well as proper levies), New Orleans certainly can support its current diminished population, because as this week has shown, they can be evacuated quickly and safely. But the hundreds of thousands in the surrounding suburbs, many without proper drainage or flood control, are another story.
What we object to in Louisiana is being singled out as crazy for being where we are. The first big hurricane of the 21st century to hit the south shore of Long Island will change the terms of the debate, I'm pretty sure. And the looming water crisis out west makes it clear that Phoenix, for instance, should have a fraction of its current population, and probably Los Angeles too. We'll shelve the issue of metro California's seismic feasibility for now. And then there's overbuilt, overexposed Florida...
So those are my observations as I sit on the shoulder of this large, dangerous storm. It's not going to stay a Louisiana problem for very long. Humanity has expanded outside its comfort zone, which is what humanity always does.
When I was 15 I remember one hurricane's remnant making its way up the Hudson Valley into the Berkshires, putting our power out for a week. So where is anyone safe? This said, putting one of the world's great cities in a bowl between a big lake and a big river was probably not what they mean when they talk about location,location, location.
Regards,
jp
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Comments
I finally had to blog about it to get it out of my system but that's a lot of memories so I guess it would take too many posts and I don't think anyone wants to hear that much about me getting slammed by Hugo.
It has been many years since Hugo but I clearly remember when the lights went out.
It had just gotten dark on Sept 17, 1989 in San Juan PR. I was lying on my bed looking up at the rotating ceiling fan , just waiting for the storm to hit. There were some preliminary winds but really it seemed that the 140 mph winds barreled smack into the island all at once. There was a huge gust, the lights went out, and the fan slowly spun down to a stop.
Just like that. And then no power and no water for almost 2 months.
Hope that your city gets restored soon and that you are not roughing it too much!