Immediately after Katrina I wondered what would happen to the US and
the world economy if another disaster struck in the US in the months
after Katrina. Now we have a category 4 hurricane poised to strike the
Gulf Coast again, the freeways are blocked with fleeing vehicles and
the oil derivatives exchanges are thinking about staying open for the
weekend. Scary. I must remember to fill up the gas tank today.
Update: seems the worst didn’t happen. Good.
Updated on Saturday, 2005-09-24.
Posted at 11:16,
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I’m putting tinfoil up on the windows
Lying down in the dark to dream
I don’t want to see their faces
I don’t want to hear them scream
— Warren Zevon
Posted at 23:14,
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The coverage of Katrina reminds me of Sterling’s novel Heavy
Weather. Obviously,
Sterling himself has made the connection
too.
The whole situation is making me pretty glum. It’s really shown a dark
side of the United States, a country that’s prepared to spend billions
to invade and then “rebuild” a foreign country, but that apparently
feels that if its own citizens can’t get out of the way of a
hurricane, they only have themselves to blame. Sauve qui peut, indeed.
I thought the whole point of Homeland Security was the security of
people in the homeland. But maybe the (black) South isn’t part of the
homeland?
Update: none of this was unexpected:
In the aftermath of such a disaster, New Orleans would be
dramatically different, and likely extremely diminished, from what
it is today. Unlike the posthurricane development surges that have
occurred in coastal beach communities, the cost of rebuilding the
city of New Orleans. dramatically damaged infrastructure would
reduce the likelihood of a similar economic recovery. And, the
unique culture of this American original that contributed jazz and
so much more to the American culture would be lost.
Should this disaster become a reality, it would undoubtedly be one
of the greatest disasters, if not the greatest, to hit the United
States, with estimated costs exceeding 100 billion
dollars. According to the American Red Cross, such an event could be
even more devastating than a major earthquake in
California. Survivors would have to endure conditions never before
experienced in a North American disaster.
Update: that’s not all, the survivors are now “insurgents” too.
Updated on Sunday, 2005-09-04.
Posted at 11:05,
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Charles Stross:
A couple of hundred billion here, a couple of hundred billion there
— pretty soon we’re talking real money.
What are the likely consequences (locally and globally) of blowing a
5% of GDP sized hole under the waterline of the US economy?
(Via BoingBoing.)
Update: Before and after pics of New Orleans.
(Via DaveW.)
Updated on Friday, 2005-09-02.
Posted at 21:44,
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