Water water, everywhere!
I have been reading a lot about the flooding in Iowa. I just got done reading an article that insinuated that the flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City could be similar to that of New Orleans during Katrina. Although I am not a hydrologist, civil engineer, or even that scientific minded, I would like to offer my uninformed opinion on this statement. I feel as if I'm qualified to offer this opinion solely based on living in NOLA area and working there for 11 months.
1. No it's not. Iowa seems to be much more prepared for a large scale disaster/evacuation effort then Louisiana was. Something to do with not having to deal with years of local government corruption and the draining of necessary funds to mobilize government resources.
2. No it's not. Some parts of NOLA had standing water for up to 6 weeks AFTER the levees broke. The levees broke 12-24 hours AFTER the hurricane came ashore, so it's important to start counting from that time. Plus, Rita came through as pumping efforts were starting to make a difference and dumped more rain into the bowl.
3. No it's not. I haven't been to Iowa City recently, but my guess would be it hasn't transformed itself into an inner city urban area in the 6 years that it's been since I was there. There's even less probability that Cedar Rapids is now an "urban" area. Unique challenges come from the differences in population density.
4. No it's not.
That is all.
1. No it's not. Iowa seems to be much more prepared for a large scale disaster/evacuation effort then Louisiana was. Something to do with not having to deal with years of local government corruption and the draining of necessary funds to mobilize government resources.
2. No it's not. Some parts of NOLA had standing water for up to 6 weeks AFTER the levees broke. The levees broke 12-24 hours AFTER the hurricane came ashore, so it's important to start counting from that time. Plus, Rita came through as pumping efforts were starting to make a difference and dumped more rain into the bowl.
3. No it's not. I haven't been to Iowa City recently, but my guess would be it hasn't transformed itself into an inner city urban area in the 6 years that it's been since I was there. There's even less probability that Cedar Rapids is now an "urban" area. Unique challenges come from the differences in population density.
4. No it's not.
That is all.