> > They'll rebuild. And most people will return once it's possible to do so. After all, a similar but much more tragic fate once befell Galveston, Texas.
>
> The one problem I see is this: Before the "big one" hit Galveston Texas, it was known as the "Jewel City" and "The Wall Street of the West". It was the only deep-water port in Texas during the turn of the century, and THE settling point for the rich and high-class. According to a CNN article I am reading, there was more money at the time in Galveston than in Newport, RI.

I wish you had provided a link to that article; it took me a while to find it.


> Once the 1900 hurricane devestated the city, it never regained its status as one of the wealthiest cities in the U.S., being overshadowed by "safer" cities such as Houston by virtue of a canal built that gave that now-prominant city access to the sea.

The way I read that last paragraph, the building of the canal was more because of oil than because of Houston being a "safer" city. I.e. Houston becomes an important location for oil, which is gaining in importance by 1914. Shipping the stuff by water is easier at this time, as the US highway system is still a year or two away. Hence the canal.

> Galveston, while it still exists, is essentially an "also ran" of Texas cities. When one thinks of Texas cities, especially when non-native, the first ones that come to mind are, Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, and even if you have smaller cities on the brain, I'll bet you think of someplace like Corpus Christi before Galveston.

Actually, no, I would think of Galveston first. Corpus Christi only crosses my mind when I play Scattergories. The reason that I would think of Galveston first, however, is *because* of the disaster -- I read up on these things, although I seem to have missed a significant point here.

> Unfortunately, Galveston's biggest claim to fame these days is that it got wiped off the map by a Category IV behemoth because it was grossly unprepared.
>
> Sound familiar? I hope that New Orleans doesn't get to share in that fate.

Well, Galveston didn't get around-the-clock coverage from CNN (which had reporters earlier stating that they're already trying to get essential services up and running in New Orleans), and it also didn't get mentioned in Gone With the Wind (the novel). And as I have already said, the canal to Houston made a bit more sense economically and logistically. It's unfortunate, but these things happen. Take Halifax, Nova Scotia, for example: that city was once *the* eastern port for Canada. Then the St. Lawrence Seaway opened, and less traffic stopped at Halifax for anything.

I still say that New Orleans gets rebuilt, seeing as a) there's a lot of trade that goes up and down the Mississippi, and you need something near the mouth of the river -- a customs office or something, at least; and b) oil gets brought in to refineries there; people come in to maintain the refineries, and other people come in on top of that. I think the idea is to get it ready for shipping as soon as possible, and then the finished product goes to pumps up and down the river, and out in the Gulf of Mexico and (maybe) further, seeing as the open waters are close conveniently close by. There's also c), the fact that people in New Orleans have endured things like this before -- the settlement was hit by a hurricane in each of its first four years, there were yellow fever epidemics periodically throughout the 19th century, and Hurricane Betsy flooded parts of the city back in 1969 (although not as badly as the last storm did). It might be a very good idea to try and put as much as possible on the high ground this time around, though -- even if that means having a city that's a little more spread out than it was before.

Oh, and d) New Orleans has more key elements or words that can be attached to it: jazz, voodoo, Storyville, Tennessee Williams, French Quarter, etc. You're right; Galveston does seem to have become a one-trick pony.

Point taken, however, with regard to the fact that Galveston might not be the best example to use. I was going by body count, and the books that mention that disaster don't seem to have noted the bearing the canal had on the city. And the website about the storm is maintained by the city of Galveston, so they probably wouldn't want to mention how Houston stole their thunder. At least my other example (San Francisco) better illustrates what I wanted to say about rebuilding. I will also provide a link to an article that notes the economic significance of New Orleans.

> The_Scots"Those who pay no attention to history are doomed to repeat it"man

mac "guess I learned something new today" rinus7