My mother's house is 6' below sea level and she lives in Texas. She's evacuated now but that's my childhood home and it's always worrisome. - Akiva Moskovitz

In a sense, yeah. You might as well be flippant toward people who have businesses in low income areas that get repeatedly hit by theft, etc. - Akiva Moskovitz

Yeah, or people who live near an active fault line. You can't escape natural disasters. And I can totally understand why someone would want rebuild their home after it's been ruined. - Alex Scoble

Nono I'm not referring to people without options. I'm referring to people who were wiped out by Katrina, and then opted to rebuild in the same place. - Anthony Citrano

Guess that 1.5 million people who died recently in an earthquake in China should just move. And when earthquakes hit Los Angeles or Anchorage, they should've just moved. And the great Chicago fire... and the London fire... and the Tri-State tornado... all should've just moved. - Akiva Moskovitz

it is terrible... I actually had the same thought yesterday.. on the way home from church (I'm horrible, I know) then I remembered: it's the poor who are affected most, property value there must be crap, and only the rich can really afford to relocate.. so I feel sorry for them. Praying that most ppl heeded the warnings this time and got the heck out! - Jasmin Smith

Such as rebuilding after the Northridge earthquake or one of your area's many brush fires. - Chris Baskind

yes you are Anthony....LOL...seriously I feel ya and if this hits New Orleans again, I think it will be the end of the city as we know it once and for all. - R. Ferguson

@Jasmin, most of the "poor people" affected by Katrina either no longer live in New Orleans or still live in a FEMA trailer. They don't have a rebuilt house to lose this go-round. - Trish R

No. When you buy a house that type of info is disclosed. It is your choice to take that risk. Considering that most of New Orleans is below sea level and has a history of flooding, it's no secret that your house will eventually get flooded. That being said, there are very few places to live that are completely immune to some sort of natural disaster. I live in the SF Bay Area which will eventually be hit by a large Earthquake. I won't ask anyone to feel sorry for me if my house gets damaged. - Jeff P. Henderson

Ok, but I DON'T feel sorry for the millionaires that build their houses on the side of a cliff and then expect insurance to cover it when it slides off... or, frankly, for the multi-million dollar houses and beach-front condos that get blown down by hurricanes. Those people shouldn't be allowed to get aide... most of them have other houses they can go to anyway and they're fools to build there. - Her Lindsay-ness

not at all. Why they don't just bull doze the whole lot and relocate them somewhere is a mystery. This sort of disaster is ALWAYS going to happen when you built a city 10 ft below sea level. Akiva: earthquakes are a little different: they aren't as regular, and not always as destructive, the odds are a pile better. For New Orleans, the odds are always bad - Duncan Riley

the only people that i don't feel sorry for are those who refuse to leave even though they've been warned for days. - ::Kristen::

wow. no comment. - Mona Nomura

Good idea, let's just bulldoze New Orleans and have Mardi Gras in South Dakota, or maybe the Jazz Festival in Utah. Also, with property values so affordable in California, it's understandable why people would take their chances on earthquakes and fires. - Trish R

The lack of compassion in this thread is deafening - Bwana ☠

It's because they weren't there. I was. I helped rebuild. The scents still lingers and the sights still haunt. And I LONG learned, if I don't have anything nice to say, to not say it at all. - Mona Nomura

I was watching a show on the science channel about hurricanes... one reason why they're so destructive now is that we've gotten rid of all the marshlands and forests that used to buffer the inland and built real estate instead. I think we should take back 80% of the coast line and declare it a preserve and maybe it would help make the hurricanes less destructive. Instead of spending money to rebuild there, spend money to relocate those people to less disaster prone places, like Arizona. - Her Lindsay-ness

Not South Dakota, Trish. Too risky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Chris Baskind

I kind of agree. Rebuilding below sea level with the levees haven't really been adequately improved just seems like you are asking for trouble. On a lesser scale we had a river/creek near my house that always over flowed every few years. Then they built houses on the land. It shouldn't of been any surprise when it flooded... - Charles

I wouldn't say it's lack of compassion, Bwana. It's just the lack of context. I don't daily feel the plight of the AIDS issue in Africa but it doesn't mean I lack compassion. - Akiva Moskovitz

Akiva, but you don't say those AIDS infected folks need to use a condom. There's a difference in being complacent and being cold. - Bwana ☠

i'm with you bwana, it's sad to see such callousness. - Anika

Bwana, yep, that's true. - Akiva Moskovitz

It seems "stupid" to rebuild in an area that you know is probably going to be leveled again, but you wouldn't understand until you're put in that situation. It's called Empathy. There might be some people who are stubborn, but some people really have no choice. - Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF

I don't see how it's callous - and Rahsheen, to reiterate, I am talking about those with options who opted to rebuild in the same place. It just seems pretty fucking stupid to me. But that's just me, I guess I'm an asshole. You know, a big flaw I often see in the social liberal's way of seeing the world is that almost any attempt to ask people to take responsibility for themselves and their choices is almost always met with accusations of coldness or a lack of empathy. - Anthony Citrano

Where are they supposed to rebuild, Anthony? - Mona Nomura

Well, that's why I mentioned some people just being stubborn. - Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF

Also, I have less of a problem with that (and the stubbornness Rahsheen mentions) when I'm not subsidizing said stupidity and stubbornness. - Anthony Citrano

Mona, in a place where nothing possibly can go wrong and, if it does, everyone has the money to instantly pick up and move. - Akiva Moskovitz

What if they own the land? - Mona Nomura

Anthony, one day we're going to have to rebuild Los Angeles. I'll be first to contribute. - Chris Baskind

@Mona - where?? where??? I dunno, have we run out of above-sea-level buildable land? - Anthony Citrano

Yeah, that real estate market is booming I hear - Bwana ☠

Anthony, I dunno, have we run out of above-sea-level buildable land with the infrastructure to accomodate millions of people like roads, schools, water, electricity, communications, sanitation and... jobs? If you can't afford to move, you might need the last one the most... I'm just saying 'move' isn't a simple answer. - Johnny Worthington

For me, stating that you don't want to "feel sorry" for people losing everything because they should move above sea level, to me, shows a lack of compassion and empathy. - Bwana ☠

It's always black and white from the outside - Bwana ☠

Yes. Everyone can make bad decision from another's perspective but may have very good reasons for doing so without others understanding. - ·[▪_▪]·

If a place is truly uninhabitable, the people will have no choice but to get out. There is a beach on the big island in Hawaii that is totally beautiful and used to be inhabited. Every so often a tsunami would come in and wipe the entire place out. Eventually people came to their senses. There does seem to be a bit of that lacking here. - Pete Delucchi

Of course I feel sorry for those who've lost everything. My point is that if you're going to lose everything, it's going to happen whether you're there to "protect" it or not. Self first, things 2nd. I know it doesn't make it any easier (trust me, I'm in hurricane central as well), but you can't replace yourself while you can replace your things. All we can do is pack up our important papers and whatever money we can and enough clothes to last us a few weeks and hope for the best. - ::Kristen::

If you moved everyone who in the way of a natural disaster we would have to move half the United States. Everyone who is on a flood plain, who live in earthquake country, who live in tornado alley. We almost all live somewhere that has a threat of natural disaster. It's why we have insurance and it's the pact we've made with each other you help me out when I need and I'll help you out when you need it. - Jack Kendall

Aaron... I'm all for personal responsibility... but... last time I checked, banks don't accept bottle tops. My land is worthless. No one is going to buy it from me, and following you moral logic, I shouldn't sell it to anyone knowing what I know. So, I have no money. Let's go kids, in the car. Maybe we can move to the next state. Oh, wait, I'm not from here. Will thier GOVERNMENT give me assistance? Why should those people help me based on my stupid choice? Hey, assistance is being offered where I live... - Johnny Worthington

That is why Government must be involved. It has to help people who can't just pick up and move... - Johnny Worthington

Well, in a few days, a lot of you can point and laugh at the Gustav victims and tell them they deserved it. Enjoy yourselves! - Trish R

It's not that simple... Many of those people grew up there, and it's not easy to abandon someplace so close to your heart, no matter how bad the environment. Look at the desert or Arctic, for example -- why would anyone want to live there? Because that's all they've known. - rowlikeagirl, hecho en eu

Do you really mean that or where you just trying to stir up a lively discussion? - Michael Fidler

@Michael - both. - Anthony Citrano