Sunday, September 4, 2005

It is simple to explain emotions now. Most people are numb and depressed.

Hour by hour things happens in New Orleans. I still hear helicopters overhead and emergency sirens on a repeated basis. I look outside my window and it is beautiful, sunny and unchanged.

However, I can't get it out of my head that less than a week ago these people were doing what I am doing in their homes. They had jobs. They had schedules and routines. I know in some cases they will try to return to some of that in the short term (months).

I think much of New Orleans will need to be bulldozed, including the SuperDome. Yes, the city needs to be rebuilt. But, I think that engineers smarter than me need to help design it.

New Orleans is sinking. As the new infrastructure is laid, it needs to be one that will be able to meet the needs past 2090. To just say "rebuild it" is trying to get attention. New Orleans is a city of great importance to the Nation. It will be rebuilt, the question is how. It needs to be done with maximum efficiency.

On a personal level, people are thinking where will I live? What will my employment be?

The television stations are still running wall-to-wall coverage of New Orleans and emergency programming.