Thu 24 Aug 2006
Cypress Swamps Could Have Saved New Orleans
Posted by Fiacharrey under Environment, Louisiana, News
A recent article on NationalGeographic.com points out that the devastation wrought upon New Orleans by Katrina was, in fact an un-natural disaster. In short, the levees and canals we’ve built have caused unnatural errosion and allowed salt water in to the swamps, destroying thousands of acres of cypress, a natural barrier to the ravages of storms. “Had those cypress swamps been in place, the levees probably wouldn’t have failed.”
Ah, my beloved cypress trees. If only we had understood how sacred you really are.
August 24th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
That is so true. On the northeastern end of St. Bernard Parish, vast stands of cypress were reduced to dead stumps over the last generation by teh Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, and to a lesser degree by the Intracoastal Waterway (the barge channel built in part to protect coastal traffic from German submarines, which weren’t a big threat the last time I checked).
August 24th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
So THAT’s why they built the Intercoastal? I’ll be damned. I live very close to it here in Houma. Damn thing divides the city in two: East and West.
But, there is a lot of traffic on the canal, so I guess they found some new reasons to keep it around.