Rewiring (and Unwiring) New Orleans 193
stinkymountain writes "Is New Orleans bouncing back from Hurricane Katrina with the most advanced telecom system in the country? According to Network World, carriers have invested billions to rebuild the wired and wireless networks in the city, and businesses are taking advantage of new, advanced telecom services."
This story selected and edited by LinuxWorld editor for the day Saied Pinto.
My god. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My god. (Score:5, Interesting)
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That'll never happen.
Too many backhoes in the New Orleans area.
I can't imagine that (with the amount of ongoing* construction)
anyone in the city will have consistent internet service or cable tv.
The Backhoe, The Internet's Natural Enemy
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/19/164 3215 [slashdot.org]
*You really think NO
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Quite appropriate: Nothing to see here (Score:3, Interesting)
It's nice that they are re-building and as with that they indeed have to use new technologies because implementing old would be more expensive. It's logical to me that this happens. It's like building a new house, you can't get the cotton-covered electrical wiring so you get new better wiring. How this will translate to costs of course is another issue. Re-wiring existing technology IS also expensive and the costs/benefit is not as high.
But will this also mean that the poor in New Orleans won't be able to pay the charge for fiber-to-premises? Or will they make it so cheap so that New Orleans becomes the haven for geeks and technological companies?
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Poor people have other expenses to worry about. They don't need fiber to the premises. Just like the poor in the rest of the country doesn't have FTTP. Why should N.O. be treated any differently?
Nick
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They wont have to pay for any of it, they were in a natural disaster, silly.
The government will pick up the bill as part of Federal Aid for the city rebuilding. Everyone (down there, wins) Telcos gets the government to pay for their network upgrades, businesses and consumers benefit from the impro
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Too bad rebuilding NO is a... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Too bad rebuilding NO is a... (Score:5, Insightful)
There is a significant contingent who would like to see those areas bulldozed and turned into parks, and turn the city into a smaller, wealthier (and whiter) version of what it was.
As far as there being "no point" to rebuilding a major US port city, that's just silly. The reason that city has remained there for hundreds of years, despite its vulnerability is because it's in such a commercially advantageous spot. Maybe instead of letting it sink into the sea, we should concentrate on rebuilding the wetlands around it that served as natural barriers to hurricanes in the past.
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They aren't rebuilding the poorest areas because it's more likely to be flooded again. That's a large part of the reason that low-income
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The unfortunate reality, as you've noted, is that the parts least reasonable to rebuild were overall inhabited by low-income residents. But either way, the best solut
Re:Too bad rebuilding NO is a... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not fairies working for the Republican Party waving magic wands at swamped houses and rebuilding them. It's typically people who have money from having the background and training to command a good income that own the houses they're rebuilding, and were paying for enough insurance to do so without it being a dead end.
They're benefitting, and they're paying, too. They're also the ones that pay all of the income taxes, remember? You know, the stuff that funds that part of what the government is doing?
There is a significant contingent who would like to see those areas bulldozed and turned into parks, and turn the city into a smaller, wealthier (and whiter) version of what it was.
Parts of town that are the most likely to flood are the places least well suited to housing. They're perfect for parks. How does the fact that water runs down hill make recognizing that a racial issue, for you?
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And ironically, this will be one of the factors contributing to the eventual failure of the NO experiment. The poor and lower-class are th
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While true that we ARE trying to attract business (what city isn't?), an
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Carriage before the horse? (Score:3, Informative)
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Wired vs. Wireless (Score:2)
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Does it still count as scaremongering if it is true? I know that in my area (central California), the network equipment owned by our local cable company runs on 30 minute UPS's. The central station runs just fine, but all of the repeating boxes go dark during an extended out
Scaremongering might have been too strong a word (Score:2)
I don't necessarily agree or disagree 100% with the ad, I just thought it was interesting that AT&T thought they needed a "preemptive strike" against VOIP. I wasn't aware that the uptake was high enough to rate that kind of a strategy.
You lived below sea level (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it is a collosal waste of money, and investing $B in infrastructure is just going to encourage people to move to an area which is inherently unsafe and very expensive to make livable.
Oh, go ahead, hit that troll button, but there are an awful lot of us that are getting sick and tired of people spending an inordinate amount of taxpayer money on projects that keep "beautiful" places in the black. I'm okay with the occasional monument or historic home, but forking over billions of dollars to artifically change the landscape for a commercial venture is not my idea of good government. That goes for all you weenies on the east coast, too. I'm tired of paying the Army Corps of Engineers to put the beach back so your oceanfront home keeps its value. You want beach, you pay for it.
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i feel the same way about a large chuck of cali. if you don't want your home to slide down a hillside, don't build it there..
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And taxpayers gave lovely tax breaks for the oil comp
Re:You lived below sea level (Score:4, Informative)
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Next question: when was it determined that parts of New Orleans were up to 10 feet below sea level?
Third question: what level of development had the city undergone when it was determined how much of it was below sea level?
Last question: what would have been the costs to pack up the entire fuckin' city and move it further in-land?
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Why can't America do it right in one city?
Because the Dutch don't have big hurricanes (Score:3, Informative)
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I wasn't aware that Italy and the Netherlands were subject to hurricanes.
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There are other cities below sea level...The Dutch figured Amsterdam was important enough to protect it...is NOLA not as important to the US? If not on a historical basis...it is good business. NOLA is a major port city...read some of the other posts on here. We support energy refinement, drilling and importation that nowhere else in the country will do. It has to be where it is with regard to the MS river and the sea....
No
Re:is NOLA not as important to the US? No! (Score:4, Insightful)
Or perhaps we can stop pretending that we are a series of gated communities who are not a part of a federal union. Federal taxes built the highway networks and the suburbs that sprang up around them, subsidize the oil companies that fuel them, and constructed the canal that killed the ninth ward. If you can spend the federal money to build up rich gated (metaphorical or literal) communities you can spend the money to save the most beautiful American city.
Implied in your comments -- actually directly stated -- is that the 2 million in New Orleans aren't worth the money, the way those around the Zeider Zee are. Why would that be... little dark over there, ain't it.
Racism informed the coverage of Katrina, focusing on looters rather than the dying. Racism caused the panic that made the NATIONAL GUARD refuse to enter the city for a week, because gunfire (which we learned, if you get your news from anywhere but TV, actually was from suburban cops firing warning shots over the heads of New Orleanians trying to leave the city via a bridge) from negroes was rumored. I've been to New Orleans a dozen and a half times, and I know damned well what the wealthier white folks think. EVERYthing down there is about race, and that's a liberal, hated city in Louisiana. The suburbanites and country folk f-ing despise blacks, and are rejoicing in their removal.
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The part that's ALSO SINKING you mean?
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Wow have we not had our coffee yet this morning.
First I assume you are referring to the National Interstate Highway system. This is called infrastructure that is largely responsible for our prosperity and is a national security issue. They were not built so that people could liv
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In all seriousness, you really must accept the basic fact that our main population centers are along the coasts and waterways of our country, and that there exist several good reasons why this tradition has survived a couple thousand years of city building.
I'm curious, however, where you live that is so free from any sort of natural disadvantages that our tax dollars do not go towards mitigating?
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Post-Katrina analysis by the NOAA had downgraded the strength of the hurricane to a Category 3 and look at what happened. One of these days they really are going to get hit with a Category 5
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Yeah, those guys 288 years ago really should have researched it better before building a city there.
Also, the city SHOULD have survived. The hurricane did miss..and we got
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It isn't the chocolate part, it is all the nuts.
Charles
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Really, you think that the Michigan DOT or the South Dakota state and county governments are asking for federal aid to plow all of their roads every year? Or that the residents in those states don't buy their own heating oil?
Left alone, Detroit may go to hell in a
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Well, yes. (Score:3)
North Carolina coast? Heck, the barrier islands have been moving for eons. Don't build your new castle on sand and then ask me to pay to keep the beach in place.
Florida? Please...you knew there were hurricanes when you moved there. Build solid, put aside extra money for cleanup after the storm. Don't ask me to foot the bill. Hey, here's an Idea - how about using the STATE money
Why are the cities where they are? (Score:2)
New Orleans should stand as a city because it is profitable for it to be there. Not because it is the whim of a few powerful people to spend others' money to establish it there. If that means building a smaller port-city to handle the mississippi traffic, then so be it. It was hubris to reach out beyond what the resources were capable of support
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Now, you could make an argumen
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You want to live there? YOU PAY FOR IT. Don't make me subsidize your ocean view just because you chose a risky place to live, and I chose a place that requires me to get some good excersize with a snow shovel.
I tend to agree with him. I will not oppose spending money on rescue efforts, but I don't want my money to be spent to set up a situation requiring another rescue effor every year.
(And because people seem to like bringing it up, I don't want my money being spent to bo
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I live and work about 1/2 mile west of Lake Michigan and as such, have a meteorlogical buffer; little snow, 15 degrees cooler on average during the summer (Milwaukee baked a couple weeks back, we barely broke a sweat). Not to mention all the Wi-Fi a guy can handle, three of the best bakeries in the universe within a 5 minute bike ride, and living on the 3rd story of a building on top of a huge h
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Hehehe..I hear ya man. I'm still for seceding from the union, and turning off the oil and gas lines outside our state, and then seeing if anyone notices us?
Hell, we'll sell to the US directly, and become wealthy and rebuild th
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To answer your question, YES. (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, yes it is.
In fact, New Orleans' broadband is so good, Korean tourists are flocking there to mob-harass the local Web pariahs.
New Orleans' broadband is so good, Al Gore is working on a movie advocating we de-decentralize the Internet, putting New Orleans right in the middle.
New Orleans broadband is so good, mint juleps are already outselling Mountain Dew as the official drink of computer nerds.
New Orleans broadband is so good, girls at the last Mardi Gras were flashing their MySpace pages in exchange for beads.
Hope that answers your question!
Sincerely,
SlashdotAnswerGuy
Wait and see (Score:2, Interesting)
Because one thing is sure: New Orleans is going so sink into the ocean rather sooner than later. Just the people (left) living there haven't caught up to the reality, it seems.
But the term "sinking billions in infrastructure" suddenly makes more sense, right?
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The latest pedistals are basically a sealed heavy-duty fibreglass shell that fits over the top of the terminals that are positioned near the top of the shell - secured at the bottom. So the terminals and ends of the underground cables should remain relatively dry in flooding conditions.
You probably already know this, but for the benefit of those not in the know: edlin duplica
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All well, but at least in Unix-land, they did get vi(1) on board - which MSFT failed to do.
FreeBSD's single user mode still doesn't have vi(1) but ed(1), BTW - which I cannot use at all...
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Because one thing is sure: New Orleans is going so sink into the ocean rather sooner than later. Just the people (left) living there haven't caught up to the reality, it seems.
Why are ignorant responses like this getting modded up?
New Orleans is not "sinking" by any significant measure. The coastline and wetlands of South Louisiana are eroding, that is true, but all things considered, New Orleans being a few feet (IN SOME A
I won't sleep... (Score:2, Funny)
Let Telecom Be Just the Beginning... (Score:4, Insightful)
During the Civil War, Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground. Now, as far as cities in the Southern US goes, it's pretty damn advanced. It most assuredly would not be what it is today had that event not occured. Savannah, Georgia was "spared" by Sherman, and the place seems allergic to progress. At least part of that comes from a valid desire to preserve the historic elements that have been there for centuries. NOLA faces some of those concerns, but only in the sections that weren't destroyed...
I very seriously hope to see, perhaps in 20 years or so, the beginnings of one of the first NEW cities in the US in quite some time. The causality may suck, but life has already delivered those lemons... I want to see a 21st century city over here, and it has a chance to happen. Failing that, I'm hoping some growth happens around one of the spaceport sites.
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Dumb question about new infrastructure (Score:2)
Things are improving.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Things are getting better each day here in New Orleans.
One problem that is still present is phone service. A lot of people I know are primarily using cellular phones as their main numbers since the landlines are not reliable / available in some areas. To BellSouth's credit, they have taken this opportunity to replace the copper wires throughout the city with fiber optics, which will provide more bandwidth. But this will take some time to do (and it does not take an inordinate amount of extra time than replacing the lines with new copper wires).
A lot of people in the city are now talking about scanning their important pictures into the computer and sending them off to relatives out of town (by CD or email).
Some of the lessons learned from Katrina in New Orleans include:
It is hoped that the lessons learned here help prepare other people in other places for the next emergency.
I'm sorry but I've been away for a few days... (Score:2)
I'm going to miss complaining about all the dupes and typos. For me, it's a part of what Slashdot is.
New Orleans Bounce (Score:4, Insightful)
New Orleans is not "bouncing back". As usual, some rich people are getting extra care and money, like the people getting the fat contracts in this article. The local poor people, though desperate for jobs and rebuilding, are cut out by imported Mexican and Central American workers, mostly illegal, all subsidized by living cheap in their own countries when they leave. Imported by fat American contractors, also mostly from out of state. Meanwhile, they still haven't hauled away the trash from the storm 355 days ago.
New Orleans isn't on TV much anymore. But it's still screwed. It's still a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I hope these new infrastructures are worthwhile investments in its future, but it's certainly not "bouncing" yet. What it really needs is more of you to come visit, spend some time and money seeing it for yourself. It's cheap and easy to get to by plane, rail and road, it's cheap to eat, party and learn there. And even if it never bounces back, at least you'll have seen America's most magical city for yourself before it's finally gone after 300 years - on our watch.
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The city is a completely different city now. At least 20-30% of the p
Re:New Orleans Bounce (Score:4, Insightful)
So I'm not going to accept your "perspective", of an insurance adjuster in a devastated, but insured city who arrived only to work in the worst disaster. I'm not surprised a guy whose job is to save insurance companies as much money as possible returns from the biggest claimant ever without sympathy. I'm surprised only that you'd admit it, and have lost touch with sympathy so much that you'd think I'd respect your opinion as "fair" when your interest conflict is so clear.
BTW, 1/3 of those police officers deserted in the hurricane - and they weren't so great in "good times", either. As for Nagin, his reelection is part of what's still wrong with New Orleans. But that doesn't make the city deserve more destruction. It deserves more help.
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The "statistics" are simple. And the Republican Congress for the past dozen years has funneled the welfare into those states to reward their cronies and to attract more welfare hounds, still mostly White and Republican, to swell their Congressional and Electoral College representation. All while raising the Federal expenses to vast, unprece
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My own experience shows something very different. I know many people who tol
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Thanks for clarifying how happy you were to carry a gun around New Orleans, looking for battles with unarmed men.
I hope you're glad that your home is dry and clean today. Which Welfare State would that happen to be in?
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How is it clear to you that the local poor people have no interest in working in rebuilding jobs? The poor people I knew when I lived in town have tried to get work, sometimes successfully, but usually not - not when they can't compete with the "immigrants". Many of whom are illegal, regardless of your hangups about the term, because they are not legally entitled to work in the US at all,
The Smell (Score:2)
No, that'd mean I'd have to get that kind of access *outside* of N.O. too.
Another reason non free software sucks. (Score:2)
This really struck me:
Don't forget the licenses as your save your
Re:Stupidity (Score:5, Insightful)
NO will get the most current technology because it makes sense to rebuild in such a way that you won't have to be digging up the same streets 5 years from now to upgrade wiring that was obsolete when you first installed it.
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Hopefully one of the technological advances will be new levies and such...
FWIW, I don't think NO has ever been hit by a storm which 'wiped out' the city before... its unlikely to happen again in the near future, I'd think.
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Re:Stupidity (Score:5, Insightful)
True...but, the damage potential now is due in great part from the erosion of the coastal wetlands...lost in GREAT part, but, the slicing and dicing of it for pipelines for oil and gas to come in from the Gulf, and canals cut into it for transportation of such. You do realize that about 30% of your energy comes through this area don't you? Remember that 'little' gas crunch that happened after Katrina? Hmm? Well, a lot of the flood damage potential is due to the sacrifices and all that New Orleans and southern LA has put into giving the US this place for energy harvest, refinement and transport. We need money now, in forms of giving us a more fair share of off shore drilling lease royalties, to ensure that the coastal wetlands that are the best and a natural barrier from hurrican surges can be rebuilt and maintained...funds that are continuous and dedicated to that.
In another post you said "Move the City"...do you really think that is possible? Let's see, San Francisco is on a fault line, and they had some pretty bad damage awhile back, and are due for another catastrophe..maybe we could move SF? New Orleans is a major port city!! It is not only a source of a lot of importated goods, but, more importantly, all large percentage of exports from the central part of the US go through there...not really possible further up river.
Give a little thought to helping NOLA...it has been her longer than the US itself...nearly 300 yrs old. It has given the US cultural gifts, it is a strategic port city, and a central point for much of the energy the US needs. I don't see any other states shouting to let them build new refineries in 'their backyard', and the east coast, Florida, and the west coast all bad drilling for oil...so in trade for us letting people do that in our area...give us a fuckin' break, and instead of criticism, how about some help...perm. help.
I'm having to live outside NOLA for now...I desperately want to go back to live there, I do work there...but, I gotta see if the city and state will get their act together, and restart this city as it should be, and clean house. (Good start by taking over almost all the previously failing schools and making them charter schools), but, also, if we'll be able to get insurance on a house, and if the Corps. of Engineers, can and will build a comprehensive levee system that is built in a smart fashion, and not a half assed one like last time, that failed way before it should have and nearly killed the city.
Lastly...c'mon...we're part of the US. You can see what the Dutch did for their special town of Amsterdam. Is NOLA not that important for the US? If not for sentamental value, then for business as I've listed above. We send tons of $$ to other countries as foreign aid....why not keep a little of that to take care of our own...just give us the tools to protect ourselves, and we'll gladly keep exporting culture, fun, and energy for the US.
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You obviously don't know what you're talking about...the Port of New Orleans has entrances just off Tchopitoulous St. it is a MAJOR port for commercial traffic connecting sea and river. No wonder you posted anon.
Here's [neworleansonline.com] a nice little reference about the Port...
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If a city got completely destroyed in California and it was obvious it would have another earthquake again at any time and do the same thing, I would suggest they move the city too. But fault lines ar
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Drop in a pantload of fiber everywhere and call it done. puttin in the "advanced" crap is pure BS and is only a way for contractors to pad their pockets with extra cash.
Fiber is cheap, do it right, not "advanced".
Re:Stupidity (Score:4, Informative)
Don't kid yourself..it isn't just the 9th ward that isn't seeing any rebuilding action....ANYWHERE that was flooded, is still pretty much dead. I used to live on the very edge (poor side) of the Lakeview area. Last time I was there a month or two ago, I was amazed at how it still looked like an atom bomb had gone off there...that area is still mostly a ghost town too...hardly anyone living there, hardly any rebuilding. A lost of the debris and trash is gone, but, that's about it.
No...for the most part, any part of the city and outskirts that was flooded...is still dead, and I dunno when/if it will come back. Hell, FEMA and the other agencies can't get off their asses to tell everyone officially how much they will have to raise there houses in order to get insurance...
And that brings up insurance...hell, will you be able to get it again?
But, no..it isn't just the poor 9th ward with troubles or New Orleans east...the wealthier parts hit are in just as bad a shape...
Re:Stupidity (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Stupidity (Score:5, Insightful)
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On this, I hear ya, and feel for you. Katrina really did kind of "flush" NOLA...the city needed it, but, I feel sorry for the other cities and states that have gotten stuck with it. I'm talking about the criminal elements, mostly from
Your Hell (Score:3, Insightful)
Who the hell are these fake "Americans" who don't understand even the most basic concept of Union? They hate America, and must be kept away from any kind of power or influence. Or we'll all be left with our own post-katrina cities.
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Well, NOLA is older than the US. I believe it was established in about 1718....so, if we survive...we'll be coming up on our 300th birthday soon.
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Almost no part of American culture or settlement can truly be considered ancient. Learn to look at things in perspective.
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Forget about Seattle and large sections of Oregon since they are on major earthquake faults and have volcanoes near by.
For get about St. Louis since it is also on an earthquake fault.
New York City? Also could be hit by a major hurricane.
Miami and Houston should also be written off.
Hurricanes are unpredictable New Orleans might go 100 years without getting hit.
Before anyone pipes up with there proof that global warming is go
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The majority of the problems would still have be resolved if state and local goverments had a working evacuation plan.
Re:Stupidity (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, they tried that a while ago and we told them to knock it off.
KFG
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I can't fathom why someone would invest in any technology in Silicon Valley or San Francisco, where at any moment with no notice, a huge earthquake would destroy the place. Electronics under several tons of debris don't perform very well.
Every place on the planet has inherent risks. As an ISP in New