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'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

theguardian.com

51–60 of 230 posts

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet those in the know keep building there. Weird isn’t it?

Uhh... "those in the know" are the actuaries and if you were to take away the subsidies provided for homeowners and developers to deny basic mathematical facts, the entire area would be totally unbuildable already.

They can still get insurance for flooding?

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#52
post #45

Weren't the Maldives supposed to be underwater like 15 years ago? Seems like the sea is rising much slower than models predicted?

No models predicted that.

Plenty of info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_Maldives

Of note, most of the country no longer has fresh groundwater, and 50% of the national budget goes to climate mitigation.

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#53
post #45

Weren't the Maldives supposed to be underwater like 15 years ago? Seems like the sea is rising much slower than models predicted?

Seas are rising faster than climate models predicted: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10196-1

almost like NOAA, had it not been savaged by this current anti-science admin, would be able to lend further credibility here. As it stands, several researchers that I know of, formerly of NOAA, were banging this drum loudly for decades.

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#54
post #10

My roots are in Louisiana, and this makes me incredibly sad. It is such a unique place that has no like, and drives all tourism in the state. Where will tourists celebrate Mardi Gras after it's gone? Baton Rouge? Sadder, still, to know that nothing will be done. No one will be relocated. Just one day a weather event like a hurricane will happen to destroy the area and it will be labeled derelict with no funds to rebu…

I don’t understand this formulation of “no one will be relocated.” People have agency to move themselves. Maybe not everyone, but if the majority of folks started moving out due to the risk of flooding then that would create a strong impetus for the government to assist poor people in relocating.

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally I agree, and we’ve known this for a long time but people stay in denial. It’s the same thing in Miami. Unfortunately though, the solution isn’t that easy. For one, if you own property there, you’re basically either caught holding a bag with life changing amounts of money lost, or trying to pass it off to another sucker which just feels unethical. For two, families and communities make it hard for people. Ma…

> For one, if you own property there, you’re basically either caught holding a bag with life changing amounts of money lost, or trying to pass it off to another sucker which just feels unethical. every day you wait this gets worse and I am not sure what is unethical about selling a home. many people have to move (e.g. for work) but if it would put you mind at ease (ethically speaking) you can put a disclaimer on the…

Yeah. There's a market. If there are enough buyers for the market to function normally, then there are enough people trying to get in that one more house won't make much difference.

I mean, yes, in your seller's disclosures you should tell the truth, including about the flood risk. If people want to take that, eyes wide open, I'm not sure what's unethical about selling to them.

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how exactly will someone do that. Many of the people living in the impacted area are below the poverty line and living paycheck to paycheck at best. How are they supposed to put together funds to relocate. Especially if their property is worth nothing. The minority of people privileged enough to be able to relocate will do that. The majority are stuck.

[flagged]

> If you’re genuinely that poor, moving is cheap. Abandon the implied worthless property, catch a greyhound out of town.

When you're genuinely poor, your local community is a critical survival tool that can't be discarded. You've spent your whole life building a set of relationships through mutual help. When your car dies and you can't afford to go to a mechanic, you have a friend of a friend who can fix cars who owes you one since you helped replace his fence a few years back. That kind of thing, but every day, in a hundred ways.

Throwing that out to move to a city where you have nothing is a great way to end up homeless.

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#57
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

And how exactly will someone do that. Many of the people living in the impacted area are below the poverty line and living paycheck to paycheck at best. How are they supposed to put together funds to relocate. Especially if their property is worth nothing. The minority of people privileged enough to be able to relocate will do that. The majority are stuck.

The “majority” of people aren’t so poor they can’t move over the multi-decade timescale this article is talking about. This country has a huge level of internal migration. 17 million Americans move every year.

Why do people have these blinders where they can’t view any issue except from the perspective of the minority of people who don’t have any resources? Why are so many people moving to places like Florida that are threatened by climate change?

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#58
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen housing prices lately? It's insane for the average person especially if no one will be buying your home and you still have a mortagage

so, you're talking not about renters but about homeowners, and you're saying housing prices are up everywhere else except they are down in New Orleans? I'm not from NOLA so I'm not going to bone up on prices, but I do doubt what you are saying holds water.

why would someone buy buy a house if they think it's literally going to be underwater soon?

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#59
post #10

My roots are in Louisiana, and this makes me incredibly sad. It is such a unique place that has no like, and drives all tourism in the state. Where will tourists celebrate Mardi Gras after it's gone? Baton Rouge? Sadder, still, to know that nothing will be done. No one will be relocated. Just one day a weather event like a hurricane will happen to destroy the area and it will be labeled derelict with no funds to rebu…

> Where will tourists celebrate Mardi Gras after it's gone?

Mardi Gras is celebrated all along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Pensacola. Go to a parade in Alabama, for example, and every third or fourth person will be from New Orleans - looking to escape the tourist nightmare their city becomes.

In other words, hopefully nowhere ;)

Re: 'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how exactly will someone do that. Many of the people living in the impacted area are below the poverty line and living paycheck to paycheck at best. How are they supposed to put together funds to relocate. Especially if their property is worth nothing. The minority of people privileged enough to be able to relocate will do that. The majority are stuck.

[flagged]

Move with what money? And go where? If they have property, sell to who, exactly? "Instant" lol.

Gently, you talk like someone who's never even been broke, let alone been poor.

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