I'm sure economics have something to do with it, but why do they build houses down there, in areas prone to flood, flat to the ground, like that? It invites water right into their living rooms.

They build homes there for the same reason we build homes up here in Tornado Alley, a location which coincidently gets major ice-storms (i.e. no power for days) EVERY year.

The BIG difference is that when we hear that a tornado is heading our way, we GET THE F#@K OUT! Or if unable to do that, we RUN, don't walk, to the nearest storm cellar or safe-room. At the very least, we lay down in a ditch. And we're pretty good at it too, since we can side-step a tornado with an average 20-30 minutes of warning & those in Hurricane Alley can't seem to up-root their butt from the couch with several DAYS of warning.

What we DON'T do is sit in the house to watch the weather, when we know the TV will most likely go out BEFORE the weatherman warns us that the tornado has just turned the corner & heading our way. And when the entire city is leveled, not just flooded but completely GONE (take a trip to Joplin like I did & you'll see), we don't moan & b!tch for years about how some government agency should have put a concrete wall around our city. We're bright enough to know the F4 or F5 would have taken that wall down too, so waste of tax money.

It's called personal responsibility, something that seems to be very lacking in a certain few areas of the country. If those of us in Tornado Alley didn't possess that, we'd be crying to the government to ring every single town between Denver-west & Knoxville-east with multiple steel-reinforced concrete walls 15-feet thick, about every 200 feet apart. That would stop those nasty tornadoes ... as long as you also capped the towns with a Kevlar shield, since tornados drop out of the sky.

Don't care if you hate me for saying the truth about non-personal responsibility. I'm not going to change my mind & lie just to make you feel better about being stupid ... as in playing the game of house/life vs. hurricane/flood.

Shouldn't it go back into the gulf?

David - I said this exact thing to my wife earlier today. +5 points for your comment.

If we all built our homes at less then sea level we could all have new stuff every seven years, and make the people that thought they were smart to build above sea level pay for it. hahahaha... why would anyone in their right mind live there? for what that city cost we could have relocated it to higher ground, I think they should be self accountable just for being stupid to begin with. then they sit there while they know the storm is coming whats with that? what if the storm hit at the same time as high tide there would have been more problems. some of those levies barelyheld up. a 12 ft Levy stands up to a 14 ft wave no problem just a little spill over but a 12 ft Levy against a 14 ft surge of water is a different story. they should not be there to begin with.

Remember when power companies would trim trees BEFORE power was out?!?!?!?

It was called preventive maintenance!!!

I totally agree David. I have little sympathy for those in New Orleans or other gulf coast cities. They chose to live their, they chose to stay their, they choose to ignore the risks, they choose to buy or not buy insurance, they they chose to build in flood plains, they chose to build with timber instead of insulated concrete forms, and taxpayers end up paying for all of the cleanup? Once OK, twice I say move the d*mn city.

The homes were probably higher when originally built. A river delta is soft, wet stuff. The land naturally sinks over time, and the floods replenish it with silt from upstream. When levees restrict the mighty river to one (relatively narrow) channel, the current squirts the valuable silt out into the Gulf. Sometimes it accumulates in the slack spots and the Corps spends a few billion dollars to constantly dredge the channels.

As the land sinks further, it becomes more difficult to contain the now-elevated river - especially in times of flood. Dams and other diversion projects must be constructed and maintained to force the water to go where gravity says it should not.

No solution possible - people will continue to build in flood plains, insurance will still compensate for losses, government will continue a futile effort to direct the water to where "it should go", the land will subside, canals will be cut that allow flooding and saltwater incursion (which kills plants, leading to erosion etc.) Just imagine the monumental structures that will be needed when southern Louisiana is 50 feet lower than the Gulf, and a hurricane with 25 foot surge comes rolling in at high tide.

we are talking about a very large area, outside of New Orleans, the surrounding areas have over 500 thousand residents; the area is laced with rivers, bayous, lakes and have almost no levee systems in place; the area drains into the lakes which drain into the Gulf of Mexico; when a surge such as Issac, Katrina, Betsy, and Camille occur, the water can not drain out and builds up behind the locks and dams; there is not enough money anywhere to build a levee system to cover the entire area( as big as several of the north eastern states); New Orleans now has the best levee protection system in North America, no damage there, it is a fact of life that people must live with, just as tornado alley, California earthquakes, western wild fires, Northern snowstorms, you can only do so much to protect yourself against nature, Nature has a way of telling you who is boss.

I lived in South Louisiana for several years. The first place I lived was Raceland. Full of cajun fisherfolk, a spicy people with deep roots for their land. Swamp dwellers didn't used to have severe flooding. Before there were levee systems, the water spread out evenly. Oil exploration companies dredged canals through the heart of bayou land and were a major force in the development of the levee systems. The people were there first. Then came the corporate meddling and plundering. And the floods.

It is true that people build their houses there (in a flood plain) ...but also true that they don't want to abandon their homeland after the rape of it.

There are areas in and around New Orleans area that are below sea level.

The levies are built on marsh & silt.

Mother Nature will win..!!

Romney went right after the Republican Convention to drum up votes by getting Louisiana residents to think he feels sorry for them. Open your eyes....it's a publicity stunt. He doesn't feel one bit sorry for the 99% of the people who are now treading water - he's not capable of sympathy or empathy unless it's going to take money out of the pockets of people like him....the 1%.

What George Bush did immediately after Katrina was fly Air Force 1 over the area and not touch down. What a gem George was!

I feel sorry for these people, but only to a certain extent. They live in an area that is below sea level. They don't just get hurricanes, they also get huge amounts of rain periodically that also lead to flooding.

And what will they do now? They'll do the same thing they did after Katrina. They will complain and say that the government isn't doing enough for them. Hello? What are they doing for themselves? I know what they're NOT doing, and that's learning a lesson that hurricanes bring heavy rain, rain leads to floods and this is what happens when you live in southern Louisiana.

When will the people of Louisiana or for that matter anyone who lives in a coastal region, realize that rebuilding is not the solution. If they want to live in these areas, then their personal pocketbooks and their states should be responsible for what happens during hurricanes/floods.

We lived in Slidell, Louisiana for 3 years. We went through one very heavy rain that left most of Slidell under water, and our house was one of a handful of homes that had no flooding. We had to have flood insurance and I was surprised that it was so inexpensive. Our losses in the event of a flood would have been far more than what we paid for flood insurance.

Maybe if the cost of flood insurance was so high that it would make people think about whether or not they can really afford to live in flood-prone areas, people would think twice. And with no insurance, they would need to know that the government isn't going to be there to bail them out or provide free lifeboats when they choose to live in a place that is notorious for bad weather and high water.

This is just common sense and so is knowing that Romney only went to Louisiana in hopes of drumming up a few votes. Get real, David Kinsman!

the 18 billion spent would have been better spent to buyout all the low lying properties, then let them flood like nature intended...probably would have cost alot less...then the now unprotected areas would not have flooded... don't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you block a bowl from filling the water has to go somewhere....

Dachs must have been good at writing those book reports.

Wow, Dachs, so Bush was horrible because he flew over the damage from Katrina and didn't touch down. Romney DID actually go to the damage, but he is horrible because it's a publicity stunt. Is there anything they could do that would suit you? Besides, you criticize Romney for not caring about the people being flooded-then you admit that you don't care that much about them either! Regarding Romney you say:

He doesn't feel one bit sorry for the 99% of the people who are now treading water - he's not capable of sympathy or empathy unless it's going to take money out of the pockets of people like him....the 1%.

Then you go on to say:

I feel sorry for these people, but only to a certain extent. They live in an area that is below sea level. They don't just get hurricanes, they also get huge amounts of rain periodically that also lead to flooding.

And what will they do now? They'll do the same thing they did after Katrina. They will complain and say that the government isn't doing enough for them. Hello? What are they doing for themselves? I know what they're NOT doing, and that's learning a lesson that hurricanes bring heavy rain, rain leads to floods and this is what happens when you live in southern Louisiana.

When will the people of Louisiana or for that matter anyone who lives in a coastal region, realize that rebuilding is not the solution. If they want to live in these areas, then their personal pocketbooks and their states should be responsible for what happens during hurricanes/floods.

Doesn't sound to me like you want to help these same 99 percenters you said Romney didn't care about very much or that you want them to take money out of YOUR pocket either. I'm not really a supporter of either political party at this point-I was just kind of taken aback by your statements.

If you had to have flood insurance where you lived, then I think it's likely these people have to have it also. In FL we are mandated to have property insurance and it costs a fortune-it does not add to the premiums of people in other states, which makes it very hard for us to get insurance because companies don't like to insure properties in FL and they tend to pull out. Of course those in flood prone areas have to have flood insurance as well. Your precious tax dollars are not paying for peoples' flood insurance-they are having to cough it up just like we are along with our outrageous property insurance costs. What the government might pay for would be cleanup costs and temporary housing if needed, etc. Some of that might be local govt, though. (Actually, I personally don't have to have flood insurance; but we carry it anyway because you never know how much rain a hurricane will dump and the storm drains sometimes get clogged.) People who got flooded in Nashville a few years ago and didn't have insurance didn't have it because it was like a 100 year flood. Otherwise people would normally be insured. I can't speak for everyone, but WE choose to live in a hurricane risk area because of the job (out of work for a year before finding it), support system, and because it has been home for decades. Before living in FL I lived in tornado alley, and tornadoes hit near my area far more often than hurricanes hit FL. My dad was a farmer, and I can't tell you how many times tornadoes hit his headquarters. You don't get hit by a hurricane every single year in FL just like those people in Louisiana haven't been flooding every single year. (For some of them, according the articles I'm reading, this is their first flood since they didn't actually flood during Katrina.)

First responders will rescue people anyway unless conditions are unsafe-do you wish them not to do their jobs and let people die? I'm not saying people are smart not to leave when told to do so. I'm just saying that not everyone can just move somewhere and abandon a whole area, especially since the vast majority of the country is prone to some type of natural disaster. If it isn't floods it's tornadoes or fires (think of how many states are affected by those EVERY SINGLE YEAR) or earthquakes (there are major faults in the middle of the country and on the East Coast as well as in CA and the Pacific NW) or other areas for hurricanes (you do realize they can hit anywhere on the entire East Coast including New York City, Charleston, near Washington, D.C., Miami, or the entire Gulf) or even active volcanoes in Hawaii and Alaska (also in the Cascades-don't forget Mt. St. Helens or the sleeping Mt. Hood-and the supervolcano at Yellowstone.) I'm not saying this to be a doomsday prophet or anything or to imply that people should live lives of fear-instead one should prepare as best they can for whatever disaster is most likely in their area and heed any warnings if given. (If you think I'm being extreme about some of this, a friend in Portland, OR, knows exactly which roads would purportedly be clear for evacuation if Mt. Hood erupted and how to get off the OR beach if there was a tsunami.) I'm just saying that pretty much every area is prone to some type of disaster. Should we make EVERYONE in the country move? Or should we blame them and refuse to help if said disaster happens to hit because they knew that disaster was a possibility? Maybe we should all just move to your back yard.

seen, posts dude not novels

If the President, whoever he is, visited every predictable weather event in the country, he wouldn't have time to do anything else. Hurricane Isaac is not the disaster Katrina was. Hurricanes hit the gulf coast every year and there is flooding and damage. Tornados hit the midwest, snow hits the northern states and out west has fires EVERY year. Now what would be especially noteworthy would be if the west suddenly had a rash of tornados, the gulf coast had a blizzard and the northeast had major forest fires.

BTW - considering what a lousy job Entergy does at running a nuclear plant in the northeast, I'm not the least bit surprised the power is still out for so many in ArkLaMiss.

Romney is running for presidency, he is not our president. As such, his visit to a non-disaster area after his big party is meaningless. He can't and did not do anything other than ask for votes. Does one really think Romney - a private citizen - can direct FEMA to provide disaster assistance anywhere there is NO disaster? It was a photo op.

Where was Romney last year when an actual hurricane, Irene, wiped out a huge swath of Upstate NY?

Where was Romney 7 years ago when Katrina hit? The man's been running for office for EIGHT years, ya know.

WHY won't power companies trim the trees near power lines like they used to???!!!!???!!!!???

I think a lot of people need to decide: Do you want the Federal government to be there to help you? Or not. Please remember that the republican vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan does not believe in collectivism, does not believe that it is government's responsibility to help any of these people. That's just what "personal responsibility" is all about. You're on your own people!! Also remember that Romney and Ryan have pledged not to cut a penny from the defense budget. So FEMA and government backed flood insurance? Forget it, those funds are going to decrease the budget deficit and build more aircraft carriers and stealth fighters. As far as Ryan and Romney are concerned government is there to help the defense contractors not you puny American citizens in disaster areas. Live with that!

How about this? It appears to me that Dachs wouldn't be satisfied with anything a republican did since not going to view the damage was terrible and going to view it was just a political stunt in his or her mind. Furthermore, he or she criticizes Romney for not caring about the 99% suffering from Isaac and says Romney would only care if they took money from his wallet and then goes on to say that he only feels sorry for them a little bit and that they should foot the bill for their own recovery (in other words they should not take money from his or her-Dachs'-wallet.) Maybe I should have just said, "Pot, meet kettle."

What you described as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

I'm with you KW-1981677, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to know that when you live in areas that are highly flood-prone, you're going to have floods. No matter how smart human nature is, Mother Nature will always do what she wants anyways!

But they want to be "close" to the water! If the 60% obese facts are correct, too far to go to get to the boat. LOL Wait till the sea level goes up a couple feet!

New Orleans is below sea level. The areas outside of N.O. was okay. They did not start having flooding problems until the Government starting messing with the natural flow of the Mississippi River and the build up of the Delta and now the water is forced to other areas to protect N.O.

An example, my mother-in-law had no problems with rain runoff. Neighbor put in swimming pool that was half in ground and half above ground. They brought in dirt and sloped the sides up to the top of the pool making a big hill. Now the rain runoff floods her back yard and we had to build a drainage ditch on her property line to carry the water to the swamp.

I hate it when people that don't know the history of the area start throwing their 2 cents in when they don't know nothing.

signed: Proud to be a Cajun.

Why not turn New Orleans into a wetland preserve?

Why not force power companies to pay penalties when power is out due to no preventive maintenance?

Power companies no longer trim trees along power line routes so when a storm comes power gets knocked out everywhere and they file for free federal disaster monies?!?!?!?

In this day and age, a President doesn't have to physically go to a disaster area to see what's happening. In fact, it makes a bigger mess when he does go, because resources that could be spent dealing with the disaster have to be diverted to security, crowd control, etc. Romney's ill-advised foray, where he awkwardly asked "did the water come from the rivers, the ocean or the sky" Duh?! to try to look presidential probably disrupted relief efforts in several areas.

Mary,

No lie Sherlock, you obviously not sharp enough to understand that Katrina, a category 5 storm, was far worse than this tropical storm and that there was no more that George Bush could have done about that than Obama could do about this! You are one of those haters, and cannot see yourself for what you are!

7 years ago they did and Bush was blasted for it. 90,000 sqr. miles underwater or damaged and all anyone talked(s) about is New Orleans. You live in a bowl surrounded by water. 170 years ago most the area was wet lands. relief efforts were not disrupted by Romney. I have family living in the gulf coast and they and most are prepared for 5 to 7 days of no power and access to stores if they are smart.

The President's job is to make sure the resources are in place to help after the disaster. I understand that FEMA was there long before Isaac went through, so he did his job. The state of Louisiana - aka their governor and elected representatives - also have an obligation to the people of Louisiana. The federal government is there to help, but it's the state and local governments that are making all the important decisions....and that's the way it should be.

How about the people of Louisiana taking care of themselves for a change? People risked their own lives to rescue other people who were told to evacuate but ignored the orders to do so.

We lived in Slidell, Louisiana and although we did not experience a hurricane, we did get one 21" rainfall in about 9 hours. Lots of areas flooded. Our house was high and dry, but houses and yards down the street from us were not so lucky.

We also lived in North Carolina when Hurricane Fran came through in 1996. It was one of the most frightening things I have experienced in my entire life, especially since it went through at night. I've never seen darkness the way we had it during that hurricane. I describe the noise as the static that you get on your TV when there is a station problem, but turn up the volume as loud as it will go. It's deafening, but not in the way that a thunderstorm is deafening. It's a persistent noise that could make you pull your hair out if you let it get to you.

To add to the comments below this one, please leave race out of this. Yes, most of the poverty stricken areas of New Orleans are home to African Americans, but these people grew up in these areas, and these are their homes. They don't want to live in poverty, but it is what it is. Our experience with the southern African Americans was a wonderful one. We were as kind to them as we are to everyone else in this world, and they were kind to us in return.

Anyone who would claim that another ethnic group is the biggest group of racists in the world obviously needs to take a look in the mirror. The reflection you would see is that of a racist. You can think what you want, but keep those thoughts to yourself. Freedom of speech requires personal responsibility in what you say, and your comments were not only offensive, they show just how ignorant you are!

He's going to visit on Monday. Jeez!!!

can we leave race out of this discussion and just talk about the hurricane? please for once, stop the racism.

Hey Dave.......Do you always make scumbag comments?

Dave didn't make that statement. He asked a question about a scumbag that made the statement.

"Apparently every negro in a $5,000 house feels they are owed billions in flood protection for their CHOICE to live below sea level"

Racist much???

Just 'maybe' that's all most of the people down in Louisiana can afford. They don't have the means to build any other place. They cannot afford to move somewhere else to start over and certainly can't build hundred thousand dollar homes. Not everyone has the luxuries that others do.

RE: "Proof that blacks are the worst racists in America"

Nuh uhhh...........Not worse than you.

And The Biggest POS Award goes to.................Yeah Croncho Balfour.

You're an @!$%#.

So you and the other Jersey people refused gummint $$ for Irene damage, right? I'm sure there were some Gulf coasters cursing that their tax $$$ were going to wet, poor and/or illiterate criminals in NY/NJ that love to feed from the gimmint feedbag.

Do we let the people in California fend for themselves after an earthquake or wildfire? Or how about the people of Colorado? Or Haiti, or anywhere else there is a natural disaster?

Michele,

Thanks for saving me the time of posting. I hope all is well or at least that your situation is improving down there. My heart goes out to all of you in NOLA and Miss.

Don't be so ignorant....

slow response? everybody knew the hurricane was coming about a week ago. those that could evacuate, should have done it.

Lucille,

The "Slow Response" that the dummy is referring to is a jab at the Government and probably FEMA.

As reported over and over including for those sober enough to read here at the Newsvine. The government WAS PROACTIVE read: blog.fema.gov/2012/08/isaac-update-3-ongoing-response-efforts.html

Ummm. Sure. That would be a great way to get votes.

So Ken, let's just go ahead and not build just about nowhere anymore...we have areas that are prone to earthquakes, tornados, severe flooding, wildfires, ice storms and a volcano or two...

Ken is Mean Saying That About Those Poor People Who Live There I'm Sure That's All They Can Afford Too Live at.

Your Mean Ken Shame on You For Saying That Behave Yourself.