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Published online 10 September 2008 | Nature 455, 147 (2008) | doi:10.1038/455147a
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'Lucky' Louisiana unprepared for Gustav
Coastal restoration hit by hurricane.
Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall just west of New Orleans on 1 September, had far less devastating effects than Hurricane Katrina three years earlier — on either the people or the land on which they live. But the third major hurricane to hit Louisiana's fragile wetlands in three years has made it clear that, although coastal recovery is high on the state's agenda, little has been done on the ground since 2005.
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As a resident of the New Orleans area, I have been disgusted and depressed by the amazing lack of motivation on the part of the US Army Corps of Engineers, The Federal Government and our state and local governmental bodies to get serious about building and maintaining structurally sound levees and battling the increasing pernicious effects of coastal erosion. My friends and family just knew that Hurricane Katrina would be the wake up call that would get our nation serious about our levee system (not just in SE LA but in many other parts of the country) and we would finally see some progress. Obviously, until the citizens of this nation rise up and demand what has been promised to Southeast Louisiana for decades, we will continue to roll the dice with every hurricane that roars through the Gulf into our tattered and increasingly fragile coastline.
If you live below sea level in the atmospheric energy band, you have to expect tragedy. Maybe the best thing to do is relocate New Orleans. If indeed we are seeing an increase in atmospheric cyclone activity, maybe it is time to move to higher ground. Politicians have to weigh the options and money is probably better spent relocating the city rather than fighting Nature that has many more resources than humanity has. The coastline moves and shifts with season and time, why can't humanity adapt to change as well?