New Orleans, the Titanic, and the Netherlands
By Thomas D. Herzfeld
New Orleans and the Titanic had quite a bit in common: both were tourist attractions, both included people of diverse social and economic status, and both were brought low by watery forces of nature. There are additional parallels. Both had infrastructure problems - the Titanic had construction defects and design flaws, New Orleans had inadequate levees. Both were inadequately prepared for disaster: the Titanic carried enough lifeboats for only about half of those on board, and we know about the evacuation problems and the inadequate provisions for those who could not get away. The Titanic complied with the regulations of the time but, like New Orleans, the extent of disaster preparation was needlessly, senselessly inadequate. Like New Orleans, the brunt of the Titanic disaster was borne by the less economically advantaged - 25% of third class passengers survived, versus 60% of first class passengers. We don't have corresponding statistics for Katrina, but we have vivid stories of the Superdome and the Convention Center to make up for that. The fact is that the affluent are conspicuous by their absence, not that we should wish such squalor on anyone.
The Netherlands, on the other had, are a shining example of how things could be. They had their flood disaster, which killed 1,900 people, in 1953. The population of the Netherlands was approximately 10 million at the time, so that is equivalent to a loss of 560,000 people in the United States. They have spent over $3 billion on a huge project to control flooding, and spend over half a million a year to maintain and improve it. As a result, the Netherlands is prepared to withstand a 10,000 year storm driven flood from the ocean.
Can that happen here? Don't count on it - this Administration has shown itself unwilling to take care of us even before Iraq. It won't happen now, because giving insurgents things to do in Iraq, keeping taxes at inadequate levels, and no-bid contracts in New Orleans preclude serious disaster preparation.
Those of us living by the Mississippi River had better be prepared to take the high road, since our Government will not.
New Orleans and the Titanic had quite a bit in common: both were tourist attractions, both included people of diverse social and economic status, and both were brought low by watery forces of nature. There are additional parallels. Both had infrastructure problems - the Titanic had construction defects and design flaws, New Orleans had inadequate levees. Both were inadequately prepared for disaster: the Titanic carried enough lifeboats for only about half of those on board, and we know about the evacuation problems and the inadequate provisions for those who could not get away. The Titanic complied with the regulations of the time but, like New Orleans, the extent of disaster preparation was needlessly, senselessly inadequate. Like New Orleans, the brunt of the Titanic disaster was borne by the less economically advantaged - 25% of third class passengers survived, versus 60% of first class passengers. We don't have corresponding statistics for Katrina, but we have vivid stories of the Superdome and the Convention Center to make up for that. The fact is that the affluent are conspicuous by their absence, not that we should wish such squalor on anyone.
The Netherlands, on the other had, are a shining example of how things could be. They had their flood disaster, which killed 1,900 people, in 1953. The population of the Netherlands was approximately 10 million at the time, so that is equivalent to a loss of 560,000 people in the United States. They have spent over $3 billion on a huge project to control flooding, and spend over half a million a year to maintain and improve it. As a result, the Netherlands is prepared to withstand a 10,000 year storm driven flood from the ocean.
Can that happen here? Don't count on it - this Administration has shown itself unwilling to take care of us even before Iraq. It won't happen now, because giving insurgents things to do in Iraq, keeping taxes at inadequate levels, and no-bid contracts in New Orleans preclude serious disaster preparation.
Those of us living by the Mississippi River had better be prepared to take the high road, since our Government will not.
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