Case for or against New Orleans

This paper is aimed at not only looking but also analyzing the factors that are contributing and making a recommendation on whether it is necessary to rebuild or not rebuilding New Orleans. It is known that different governments have different ways of responding and dealing with the situations that hit them when they hit them. This was just the same case with New Orleans at the wake of the hurricane Katrina. In order5 to make proper recommendations for New Orleans, this paper has to be divided into two parts for easy analysis. Part A will analyze the economics of New Orleans looking regarding the cost-benefit analysis to come up with strong and viable recommendations. The residents of the surrounding floodplains. It is true that the Hurricane Katrina did not just hit New Orleans alone because it spread somehow to the surrounding areas.

Initially, it was thought to have hit New Orleans only, and even the budgeting would have been done looking at the residents of New Orleans alone; however, the nearby floodplains also felt the pinch of damages. The mayor of New Orleans is another party in this case. The mayor at the time was the caretaker of the people of New Orleans. Even though they got some money from the government to help them start over and move forward, the experience has never been erased from the minds of those who suffered or those who know people or had relatives that suffered. Even the people who have just watched movies and documentaries on the same are still wondering how bad the hurricane was.

The human suffering remains an issue because Americans still mourn the loss they suffered. It is true to say that up to this day, the incident has not been forgotten and may never be forgotten. The property was lost regarding millions of dollars and had not been paid for in full. People came to such festivals to learn new things and some to enjoy how they were conducted. Another aspect to mention about New Orleans is the good weather. Most people leave their places of residence to go out and enjoy a whole different environment. Change of environment is known to be a way of relaxing the mind and body, especially during holidays and vacations. This weather was liked by many, and it made New Orleans a place to be.

It was a whole region with everything good and proper for people to use and live in. The transportation at the time was advanced enough with some being along the waterways. This also created a beautiful scenery. Residents and foreigners would use this as a recreational activity, viewing the waterways and other beautiful things. New Orleans was and is still an education center. New Orleans is known for the ports because of the water body it has as well as being below the sea level. Having such a port was a prestigious thing for the region because it further made it famous. Katrina hit Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi but New Orleans was the most affected because it was mostly below the seas level.

The damage was greater in this region than in places such as Texas. The huge damage being here, more than $200 billion worth of property was damaged. People suffered from hunger and other related problems which were caused by the disaster. There was a need to construct industries, and this was a good move because the unemployment rates reduced. This was mainly construction jobs around. The problem with the over 1700 construction jobs initiated in the region was that they were not done by the residents of New Orleans. Capitol was brought about in the region, but so many other areas were suffering because the construction jobs were not enough to get back the economy rolling. If it is realized that the NVC will be less than the cost then rebuilding New Orleans will lead to nothing but loses hence the recommendations will not favor recovery of the region.

On the other hand, if the NCV is more than the cost of the rebuilding, then the rebuilding will lead to nothing but benefits hence the recommendations will favor the rebuilding of New Orleans. The following is a calculation based on the post-Katrina reports of 2006 to evaluate and asses the full cost of the disaster and come up with the realistic recommendations; Rebuilding Costs; • FEMA: $5. 5) billion • Department of Transportation (DOT): $62. 6 million • U. S. Department of Defense (DOD): $4. 6 billion • CDFI Fund: $400 (200) million. • FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): $12. 6 billion. The amount of energy that will be required to complete the whole project must also be considered. Building a category three system to help in the event of such floods in the sate will not help because such a system is not sufficient since the weather patterns have been so unpredictable for the last 20 years.

Upgrading the currently existing category three-flood protection to a category four flood system will cost an approximate of between $1 billion to $5 billion. Building a category five flood system would even be more expensive because that will require an amount of up to $32 billion (Hallegatte, 2006). With the changing weather patterns and the greenhouse effect, a category four or five would do, but this is more likely than not. At the same time, several people will have to be relocated to other areas during the process. This also meant that the relocated groups had to start afresh in new places. Most people who lived in New Orleans before the Katrina were not that attached to the place. This forms about half of the population who lived there.

They were residence because they were born and raised in New Orleans. The CBA for New Orleans looks good based on the amount fetched by the tourism sector. The federal government will have to provide the $31 billion. Even though it is a huge sum of money, they will also have to do the clean-up. If part of the $31 billion is taken by the taxpayer, then the value will even be lower for the government because they must rebuild a city that they are known for. The concerned agencies have to come together and ensure that the rebuilding process is done. The film and other industries in New Orleans have sown great signs of improvement. The most important part which must be looked into is the creation of emp0loyment opportunities in New Orleans.