3 ms·

Probably a very dumb question but here goes … why do the people have to move, can dykes/floodbanks/levees not be built?

maxerickson 9y ago
The buyout for one family in the article is about $25,000 per person and the article talks about ~60,000 people. That family is probably on the lower end of the buyout cost, but it puts the total cost of a buyout in the range of $1 billion or $10 billion. So then the question is how much flood protection can be built for a similar cost. I think there's also issues with flood controls for one area making flood control in other areas more difficult. So drawing a line can help with that.
- brohoolio 9y ago
  I looked at the maps of a couple of the towns mentioned. These are not easy places to protect. Articles should show the maps.
  - igravious 9y ago
    Absolutely agree; pointless in writing an article about coastal erosion and not providing a map. Polders and Dikes of The Netherlands for comparison: https://www.thoughtco.com/polders-and-dikes-of-the-netherlands-1435535 https://www.thoughtco.com/polders-and-dikes-of-the-netherlan...
- igravious 9y ago
  But isn't the land valuable (or potentially valuable) and won't its loss be irrecoverable? Of course they are allowing commercial developments to continue, check this out: Louisiana – Other Oil & Gas Infrastructure: http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries/LA_Other_Facilities_rev031808.jpg http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries... Louisiana – pipelines and platforms: http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries/LA_pipelines_2008.jpg http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries...
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    I guess the value of the land isn't all that high. It's already a particularly empty part of the pretty empty US. And as far as protecting land value, that shouldn't be funded at a national level (it could be somewhat subsidized by cheap loans or something), it should be funded by the owners of the land.
  - clebio 9y ago
    For some definition of "value". The reality seems to be that much of Louisiana is terribly polluted. People are stuck in homes which have lost much of their value due to both encroaching industrial plants and (thus) poor environmental quality. I just finished reading Strangers in Their Own Land, and the author goes into a lot of detail about this. I had never heard of salt dome storage until reading this book. Scary stuff. https://thenewpress.com/books/strangers-their-own-land https://thenewpress.com/books/strangers-their-own-land
allengeorge 9y ago
The area prone to high flooding looks quite large (https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iEYD3VfM5np0/v3/-1x-1.png https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iEYD3VfM5np...). I suspect if you're a town in that area you'd have to enclose yourself - recreate a very expensive watertight castle - to survive.
- kaybe 9y ago
  Traditionally (in Northern Europe) it has been solved by making a hill below the important buildings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terp
grigjd3 9y ago
You just can't really build dikes around southern Louisiana in a way that makes any sense. Soon enough you'll be seeing similar issues in eastern Carolinas and Florida.
hinkley 9y ago
you’re talking about protecting houses from the ocean and from the biggest river in North America. Storm surge is like a slow tsunami, driven by weather instead of techtonics. And the Mississippi clears nearly the entire Midwest. Flooding anywhere along the tributaries ends up in Louisiana eventually.

The buyout for one family in the article is about $25,000 per person and the article talks about ~60,000 people. That family is probably on the lower end of the buyout cost, but it puts the total cost of a buyout in the range of $1 billion or $10 billion. So then the question is how much flood protection can be built for a similar cost. I think there's also issues with flood controls for one area making flood control in other areas more difficult. So drawing a line can help with that.

brohoolio 9y ago
I looked at the maps of a couple of the towns mentioned. These are not easy places to protect. Articles should show the maps.
- igravious 9y ago
  Absolutely agree; pointless in writing an article about coastal erosion and not providing a map. Polders and Dikes of The Netherlands for comparison: https://www.thoughtco.com/polders-and-dikes-of-the-netherlands-1435535 https://www.thoughtco.com/polders-and-dikes-of-the-netherlan...
igravious 9y ago
But isn't the land valuable (or potentially valuable) and won't its loss be irrecoverable? Of course they are allowing commercial developments to continue, check this out: Louisiana – Other Oil & Gas Infrastructure: http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries/LA_Other_Facilities_rev031808.jpg http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries... Louisiana – pipelines and platforms: http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries/LA_pipelines_2008.jpg http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/assets/images/oilgas/refineries...
- maxerickson 9y ago
  I guess the value of the land isn't all that high. It's already a particularly empty part of the pretty empty US. And as far as protecting land value, that shouldn't be funded at a national level (it could be somewhat subsidized by cheap loans or something), it should be funded by the owners of the land.
- clebio 9y ago
  For some definition of "value". The reality seems to be that much of Louisiana is terribly polluted. People are stuck in homes which have lost much of their value due to both encroaching industrial plants and (thus) poor environmental quality. I just finished reading Strangers in Their Own Land, and the author goes into a lot of detail about this. I had never heard of salt dome storage until reading this book. Scary stuff. https://thenewpress.com/books/strangers-their-own-land https://thenewpress.com/books/strangers-their-own-land

allengeorge 9y ago

The area prone to high flooding looks quite large (https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iEYD3VfM5np0/v3/-1x-1.png https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iEYD3VfM5np...). I suspect if you're a town in that area you'd have to enclose yourself - recreate a very expensive watertight castle - to survive.

kaybe 9y ago
Traditionally (in Northern Europe) it has been solved by making a hill below the important buildings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terp

grigjd3 9y ago

You just can't really build dikes around southern Louisiana in a way that makes any sense. Soon enough you'll be seeing similar issues in eastern Carolinas and Florida.

hinkley 9y ago

you’re talking about protecting houses from the ocean and from the biggest river in North America. Storm surge is like a slow tsunami, driven by weather instead of techtonics. And the Mississippi clears nearly the entire Midwest. Flooding anywhere along the tributaries ends up in Louisiana eventually.