Rebuild New Orleans? At What Cost?

It has been five days since the devastating hurricane, Katrina, hit New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. Thousands of people are still stranded although food and drinking water are beginning to get through to the people. There is already talk of rebuilding the City of New Orleans but at what cost. Already, this tragedy has not only cost thousands of lives but it has made a tremendous negative impact upon the United States economy.

I'm glad that our government has the capacity to step in and help in these situations but it ends up costing all of us. Questions are being asked as to why our government took so long to begin relief efforts. Let Hurricane Katrina be a lesson to all of us that we are responsible for ourselves. We cannot and should not expect our government to bail us out everytime there is a natural disaster.

If I had lived through this horrible disaster, I would certainly not rebuild there. New Orleans is essentially a dry lake bed surrounded by the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. Obviously, government officials had looked at their "worse case scenarios," one of them being exactly what happened. If New Orleans is rebuilt at a cost to all of us through taxation, higher insurance rates and higher prices for goods, we will all suffer. What is to keep another major hurricane from hitting New Orleans again, once it is rebuilt?

Should people decide to rebuild in Lake New Orleans, it should be under these conditions:
1. You will not be allowed to purchase insurance on your land, home, business or vehicles.
2. You rebuild at your own risk, our government, state and federal will not come to your aid in any capacity if there is a major hurricane and/or flood.

This may sound harsh but why should a disaster in one city, that could have been averted, affect the livelyhood of all Americans.

That being said, our prayers are with the people of New Orleans but let's look at this with common sense and rebuild where the land is above sea level.

Jay Mc