Sunken Cities: Why New Orleans Is "Doomed" But Amsterdam Is Safe

[@disneylandguy10]

New Orleans local here - really cannot overstate how much poor flood control infrastructure upkeep coupled to bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption contributes to our frequent floods - it's usually afternoon thunderstorms, not hurricanes, that cause flooding because our broken systems cannot handle even mild rain events.

[@tikilanichols8023]

Born and raised here as well... This City is pitiful... from the leadership on down. Can't wait to leave.

[@klovvin]

Exactly my comment

[@thehandofdeath2106]

That's rough buddy.

[@gphilipc2031]

Hey NOLA! Yeah, ya right.

[@trumanhw]

What's so diff between Netherlands + NOLA? 🤣🤣🤣What indeed🤣 NOLA BIGGEST problem has NOTHING to do w "sea level," The problem is NOLA is a "chocolate city" run by corrupt IDIOTS (aka DEMS) PS, my family built new levees after Katrina (Carlo Ditta Inc) ... And the two Miss bridges and the Superdome & much more... My fam lives there. Much to love, but CRIME (teeeeens) are outta control!!! (I'd NEVER live in NOLA) I'm in Abita Springs; a _leave your house unlocked_ safe city!

[@sapinva]

The answer is in geology. The Netherlands sits on glacial moraine, New Orleans sits on a thousand feet of silt (basically an air mattress). The canals are interesting, but no amount of human engineering can make them equal. Best thing New Orleans can do is rebuild and protect their coastal barriers.

[@saulnier]

The Northern part of the Netherlands are indeed on the remnants of a glacial moraine (Saale glaciation), but the region Amsterdam is situated is formed by the Rhine-Meuse estuary and other influences further South by the Schelde river and North by the IJsel river. So in that sense both New Orleans and Amsterdam are similarly situated at the mouth of immense rivers.

[@andrelam9898]

@@saulnier exactly right. It’s why all building need pylons to support them. The train station has over 8000 pylons to support it. The delta works took around 2 decades to complete. They had the build special mats a few feet thick that would provide a stable base for the various elements. Right now at the Afsluitdijk, they are building an extra set of pumps next to the existing pumps. Those pumps are some of the biggest water pumps in the world. Normally the European rivers flowing into the IJselmeer would drain with low tide in the wadden zee. It is predicted that there will be more and more frequent times in the next 15 to 30 years wheee sea levels will remain elevated. That means the lake would not be able to drain off access water. That would flood Amsterdam and all the cities and towns along the former inland sea. The additional pumps are expected to take at least a decade to build. Unlike in the US where major infrastructure gets use bike a ball to nick around with successive political parties, the Netherlands has a long history of following through and getting long term projects done. Everyone knows these projects are complex, expensive and bound to run over budget … but they must be completed … so they are.

[@sapinva]

@@saulnier The Mississippi delta is unique. It was only four thousand years ago when present day New Orleans was under the Gulf of Mexico. The entire delta is a series of migrating lobes, millions of acres and all temporary. It's remarkable that New Orleans has lasted 300 years. Amsterdam dates from the bronze age.

[@keinlanz]

No. It has to be that Americans are stupid and dutch are smart. There can't be a scientifically rigorous explanation.

[@rogierbesselink7285]

I also think this is a unfair comparison but mainly because New Orleans has to deal with water being funneled from many rivers in one giant Mississippi, whereas in the Netherlands the water from the Rhine is split in several directions via the Waal, IJsel and Lek, and Amsterdam does not have any big rivers to deal with.

[@analyticalmind4493]

There is one massive difference. The USA is reactionary in response to events. The Netherlands is proactively improving things. It's far easier to build upon success than rebuild from failures.

[@ajs11201]

Bingo. Millions of Americans work very hard to elect politicians who won't spend a nickel on infrastructure. Too many Americans have this selfish, insular view of their world, borne in questions like "why should my tax dollars go to help another city?"

[@austinhernandez2716]

In other words, conservatism. The American ideology that is. They ruin everything.

[@thepaintingbanjo8894]

@@ajs11201 It's worse than that actually. It's not just people complaining about why their taxes should go to help out "another" city. It's even a mentality people have who live right near or inside the city that needs help. NIMBYs are as much of a malignant cancer on the country as the worst politicians around. Not to mention the state governments in and around the South tend to be (and this is putting it VERY mildly) outright antagonistic towards its own urban centers. Even when city councils truly do their best furthering the interests of the people living there, nothing stops the state legislature blocking/overriding them in a nanosecond just because they're that corrupt and ideologically extreme. Those are the biggest problems Louisiana has.

[@ajs11201]

@@thepaintingbanjo8894 Agreed. While every state has its problems, including corrupt politicians, it seems most exaggerated in the Bible Belt.

[@wazzup233]

And USA is a 3rd World country while the Netherlands isn't. 🤑

[@gregdiamond6023]

Amsterdam is also hurricane free.

[@uuid.uuid4]

Couldn’t agree more!

[@gregdiamond6023]

@Booz2020 English please. Google translation isn’t working

[@gregdiamond6023]

@Booz2020 I understand. I just didn’t understand what you said. Google wouldn’t translate.

[@birbluv9595]

@@gregdiamond6023he’s saying “Glory to the Netherlands. I am of German blood”

[@wdubbelo]

not totaly we have just call them cyclones but its true that they usualy dont directly go over land with us they usualy stay on the markerlake/ijssellake or the north sea close enough to do severe damage but not as bad as america

[@MrMackievelli]

Not one mention of the Mississippi River changing course, which is a major reason why they are losing land because of a mistake made to connect the Red River to the Mississippi through the Atchafalaya. this redirected sediment and more of the Mississippi started flowing through the Atchafalaya. While the Atchafalaya delta is growing its not nearly as fast as what's being lost from the lost sediment of the Mississippi. This is such a foundational issue to go with the other ones, you shouldn't leave it out.

[@birbluv9595]

Politicians don’t understand hydrology and probably distrust/ ignore the educated “elites” with doctoral degrees in hydrology and engineering.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

The Netherlands is in a DELTA of 4 rivers the Rhine, Maas, Schelde, and the Vecht in Overijssel, the Rhine has been all over the country in the last 2000 years..

[@ItsMeHammie]

One government cares the other doesn't

[@DwynNWynns]

LOL

[@pyhead9916]

The New Orleans politicians claims to care while putting the money allocated for such projects in their back pockets.

[@delvintodavo9419]

So true

[@Mark16v15]

Even if it did care, the money isn't there. I recently drove around New Orleans. The whole place is pot hole city.

[@machtmann2881]

In no scenario would I ever bet on the city of New Orleans/Louisiana over Amsterdam/The Netherlands in terms of governmental competence LOL

[@peacehopelovecharity]

I read an article once about Dutch engineers who were consulted by Miami. Their report said a city like New Orleans could possibly be saved, but Miami is doomed as sea level rise will raise the everglades, and Miami will flood from underneath more than from the Atlantic itself.

[@blackjed]

I live just north of miami. Sounds about right.

[@PSTXFL]

Miami has been underwater “20 years from now” since about 1975.

[@Demopans5990]

@@PSTXFL The US Army Corp of Engineers does quite a good job

[@HamburgerHelperDeath]

I just watched a news report from 1982 that said in 40 years much of Florida will be under water due to climate change. They showed a map of Florida and about 30% was underwater. Right now 0.5 mm of beach is lost to erosion in Florida currently due to global warming. These climate change jokers are likely off by a few hundred years on what is going to happen.

[@AbstractEntityJ]

Miami is less historic than Amsterdam, New Orleans, or Venice, so less of value would be lost from an architectural standpoint.

[@e815usa]

You should compare Venice to Amsterdam next in the same manner.

[@hello-cn5nh]

Yes. Venice, Italy

[@thebackyard7661]

geology wise venice has more in common with new orleans actually

[@budgarner3522]

That o'l Mississippi is an unforgiving and stubborn gal.

[@saulnier]

As is the North Sea.

[@Odin029]

@@saulnier It's not the same. The Mississippi is a river with a huge drainage basin. If it storms hard in Winnipeg Canada, that water is eventually going to swell the Mississippi River 2800km away in New Orleans. The same thing happens if it storms in Pittsburgh or any place in between. And that's just the river issue. There's also the Gulf of Mexico which can be one of the most beautiful bodies of water one minute, and have storms that put the North Sea to shame in the next minute.

[@Mix1mum]

The Mississippi doesn't even want to drain thru New Orleans, we dredge it to keep it from rerouting and changing course. If we didn't, it would, within the span of a couple of years.

[@Odin029]

@@Mix1mum That's a man made problem believe it or not. There used to be a barrier called the Great Raft that separated the Mississippi River from what became known as the Atchafalaya River. The Great Raft was tens of thousands of fallen trees that clogged the river passage for dozens of miles, making the water move extremely slowly and keeping almost 100% of the Mississippi in the main channel. But capitalism is going to capitalism, so over the course of a few decades people blasted the Great Raft apart so they could move riverboats up and down the river quicker. So they don't dredge the river to keep it in the main channel, they had to build 2 barriers called the Old River Control Structures to do that.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

That may be so, but I remember the last time New Orleans was flooded. It was a farce of then-president George II first simply ignoring warnings and pleas for help, and then being mostly busy with cosmetic reactions. Also memorable: his wife's "“This is working very well for them” comment about evacuees. So yep, the Mississipi may not cater to the humans who decided to build a city in a swampy river delta. But that's not news, and you'd think that the nation that prides itself in having put a man on the moon could implement the solutions which are available. I guess one important factor is: Mississipi is the poorest of the US states, it's chances of financing a solution without assistance are ... let's say, they would be much better with national funding. I doubt that a lot of Dutch would say they don't care whether or not Amsterdam survives long-term, but I'm not so sure how US citizens living hundreds of miles away from New Orleans feel about the importance of the city.

[@nicholasharvey1232]

Amsterdam has the clear advantage of not getting hit by hurricanes every few years.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Exactly

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

eh, give 'em time. most of the US's coastal cities couldn't take two days of the cartoonish inch an hour rain we get HALF the days in NOLA, at least we can keep dat up for six hours at once. can you imagine a slow moving cat four hitting any East Coast city? the aftermath wouldn't be like NOLA, but the strike would.

[@DT-wp4hk]

It has green left commies. Also bad

[@mellissadalby1402]

The Engineers in The Netherlands are some of the very best in the world.

[@epicow_1973]

The ones in NOLA are arguably even better. The difference is their geological features.

[@pyhead9916]

And the politicians in New Orleans steal the money which should pay for great engineers to do their job.

[@jbtechcon7434]

Dutch people are weird as hell but very smart and competent.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Certainly some of the most motivated: get things wrong and your capital city turns into the latest case of Atlantis.

[@KiltedHammer]

...and were consulted in the early 90s by Nawlins about how they hold back water there in Amsterdam. The US/state of LA did not want to spend the estimated cost to build the necessary infrastructure, until they HAD to spend much more after Katrina.

[@stickynorth]

New Orleans is only doomed if we allow it to be.. Otherwise there are several geo-engineering solutions that could keep the city safe like restoring the wetlands... As for doomed? I'd say that would be Miami... Salt air + salt water + steel/concrete = Champlain Towers.. Now repeat that times like 500-600 and you can tell what kind of housing crisis the city is likely to see... Very expensive to keep building on sand bars and not expecting Mother Nature to do her thing...

[@minimalistvlogger3467]

Most of miami is built over limestone rock, which I'm not sure if that's better or worse lol, but i think the only sandbar in Miami is by the beach

[@bosatsu76]

@@minimalistvlogger3467 Not much better... But... They drill hundreds of deep piles and fill with concrete and steel, turning the entire area under the building into one big block of granite like stone.

[@sapinva]

Miami is in much better shape than New Orleans. Built on rock instead of silt.

[@MrMackievelli]

Yeah but Champlain Tower South didn't collapse because of sea water. It collapsed because rainwater was allowed to collect in a layer between the support columns and the pool. The rain would fall and dry and then fall concentrating the saltiness which increased the corrosion on the supports and the pool. They ignored reports years before the collapse. It was human error and ignorance that caused it.

[@pyhead9916]

@@minimalistvlogger3467 Not true. Miami was built in a swamp and sinks 0.4 inches per year.

[@nolarobert]

I loved living in New Orleans due to its unique culture not found anywhere else in the US. I decided it was too risky to stay given the annual threat of a major hurricane hitting the area again. Insurance rates have increased to the point of being unaffordable when you can still find an insurance provider. I don't expect the infrastructure to stand up to Mother Nature and it is difficult to believe the government (local, state, and federal) will invest what is needed to protect the metro area long-term. The French Quarter and Uptown sit higher and will survive longer but the surrounding neighborhoods are endangered.

[@piratecat990]

Not just the hurricanes, but also the rise in crime and low pay for similar jobs. I left a 45k salary with military experience and a BSME...for a job in SE Virginia for 2/3 as much more than...with the same quals. NOLA is corrupt and I only visit during the holiday season. Taxes are wasted on social welfare programs, instead of actual infrastructure, to assist the city's issues.

[@erfquake1]

Geoff, do you use AI to write your scripts? Reason why I ask is I'm noticing a trend where the same statement used in the preamble gets repeated several times without any relevant deconstruction. Normally it would just sound like bad proofreading but I'm seeing it in many other channels. For example, if I were to ask you now whether you were using AI to write your scripts for you because I'm noticing the same statement used in the preamble repeated several times later without any effective deconstruction. "Is New Orleans doomed? Is New Orleans Doomed? Is New Orleans doomed?" What's going on, man?

[@k.c1126]

I also noticed that. It reminded me of TV era scripts where the key points were repeated after each commercial break. Even if the script is AI generated, the channel creator should be able to go in and edit out the unnecessary - and annoying - repetition.

[@birbluv9595]

The voice sounds AI, like Geoff sampled his voice and then got AI to read a script.

[@AlexanderWeurding]

Sorry NL here, the floodings of 1995 where mostly in the province Gelderland. Not Amsterdam, open for dialog.

[@jdjphotographynl]

Thought it was mostly the province of Limburg that got affected by it, or was that in another year in the 1990s when the river Meuse flooded? Either way, we indeed haven't had a flooding here in Amsterdam in 1995. We did have one in the Tuindorp Oostzaan neighbourhood in the north of Amsterdam in 1960 after a dike broke, but I don't think we have had any floodings in anywhere close to recent times (other than the odd street here and there after a summer thunderstorm, but that's usually solved in a matter of hours).

[@pietersleijpen3662]

@@jdjphotographynl Limburg got actually flooded, the levies of Gelderland and South Holland were threatened enough for large areas to be evacuated especially because the government seriously considered flooding certain less densely populated areas oon purpose. In the end nothing happened though.

[@PauldeVrieze]

Amsterdam or close was not evacuated. The main evacuations were in the "rivierengebied" (rhine and meuse estuaries)

[@raywolf3rd]

Can't not look at how the politics of the US vs. the Netherlands play into this. The Dutch take climate change and sea level rise more seriously than the US.

[@dmacarthur5356]

New Orleans is sinking due to pumping out ground water causing air pockets. The problem was further compounded because there was no water, the underground sediment dries up causing further sinking. N.O. has been sinking since 1900.

[@kennethevans2448]

The local politics is why New Orleans is doomed.

[@atropatene3596]

That's because half of our population lives below sea level.

[@barendgarvelink]

The water management boards are a separate administrative layer with its own elections and levying its own taxes. There are conflicting interests like in any democratic system, but there’s a clear “both sides lose unless we figure something out” to keep things moving along. Water management is politically uncontroversial at the national level. Compared to Louisiana, there’s 4.5 times the population in 1/3 of the total land area. This makes it a lot easier to fund and execute large scale infrastructure projects.

[@Brambrew]

It's worth mentioning that New Orleans has to construct levees to prevent the Mississippi River from overflowing its banks and flooding the city which largely sits in a bowl shaped valley. However, the construction of levees to protect New Orleans prevent the formation of new swampland in the Gulf of Mexico, making New Orleans more vulnerable to damage after every consecutive storm. They're caught in a double bind.

[@dutchman7623]

Sorry, but you have to do this video again! The entire Netherlands are a big delta, created by Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt rivers. In the west with thick layers of peat that are shrinking, due to extraction of water, so the county is slowly sinking as well. Soil consists of sand, clay, peat layers, is soft and unstable. The coastline has to be fixed with sand supply constantly or will be washed away. Technologically there is a big difference. About 23 million people live in the low areas of Netherland and Belgium. And together they decided to protect their home and land at all costs. That is why the risk of flooding has been reduced in the last 70 years. Under our mutual slogan 'Eendracht maakt Macht!' (United we stand.)

[@bearcubdaycare]

The discharge of the Mississippi is about 7 times that of the Rhine, which means much more water to control if there's a break, and also much thicker silt deposits. And annual rainfall is about twice as much.

[@dutchman7623]

@Booz2020 😄👍

[@dutchman7623]

@@bearcubdaycare Correct! There is more complexity around New Orleans. But not the reasons mentioned in the video. So a bit more accurate would be nice. Biggest difference: Almost the entire Netherlands and the low part of Belgium face the same problems, and that's our home. If we would move 100 miles to higher ground, we end up as 'guests' in another country with another culture and language. So we don't have much choice, do we? To preserve who we are and what we stand for, we have to deal with our landscape.

[@atropatene3596]

The country isn't slowly sinking though. Greetings from the part of the country that's rising.

[@jeffreykregel3821]

One unique problem Amsterdam is facing it's maintaining the underground water table. Due to how old Amsterdam is build, primarily on wooden pilons to prevent the buildings from sinking into the soft, marshy, reclaimed polders. Now since these are wooden pilons, they are suseptible to rotting. Especially when the underground water table is too low. So despite that Amsterdam is beating the odds of flooding, it's also reliant on the water in, around and "under" the city itself. Also I wouldn't say The Netherlands has "hard, rocky grounds", especially in the Randstad. Which is where the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt river delta is located. Being the largest river delta region in Europe. Which mostly consists of reclaimed polders and swampy marshes.

[@k.c1126]

That deltaic location's actually a major similarity between the cities.

[@atropatene3596]

Yeah the rocky grounds would be Zuid-Limburg mostly.

[@MC_aigorithm]

I see New Orleans as becoming a type of American Venice in the future... a museum city that's been artificially walled in as an island below sea level, while less important or historic areas surrounding it are let to become part of the gulf.

[@birbluv9595]

This makes sense.

[@harmg937]

That is not the Afsluitdijk but the Markerwaarddijk.

[@chrisschaeffer9661]

Vanna can I buy a vowel.

[@dutchman7623]

Nope! It is the Houtribdijk.

[@michaeldufresne9428]

As a former resident of the NOLA area I was particularly interested in this week's video. Well done. As expensive as it might be to "save" the city it is too important on many levels to let it go to easily.

[@Woodshedphilosophy]

It’s not important. We shouldn’t waste taxpayer dollars on it. The feds have no money

[@Sudique1]

My sister once told me, "Only the French would build a city in the bottom of a bowl". 😆

[@Mark16v15]

The French built the city on a high bank of the Mississippi River, thus the French Quarter didn't flood during Katrina. But the city's extensive growth outside that area (not by the French) is where what you are talking about exists.

[@lohphat]

Mexico City: Amigo, hold my cerveza…

[@k.c1126]

Venice is a better comparison for New Orleans in some ways. Also, I think New Orleans has a fundamentally different challenge because of the kind of rainfall events it typically experiences. Unlike the Netherlands, Louisiana contends with frequent high rain rate events, the frequency and intensity of which seem to be enhanced by global warming / climate change. They range from afternoon storms with one inch per hour rain rates to large, slow moving major hurricanes like Katrina. This is even before one takes into account the impact of upstream watershed water. Sure, New Orleans can learn from Amsterdam, but it's going to need more creative solutions if it's going to survive.

[@bobbun9630]

I think both cities are doomed. The unstated element in this piece is "how much sea level rise?". Amsterdam likely is more resilient against a modest sea level rise (or none, as evidenced by flooding in New Orleans in the present day and the almost unlimited potential for subsidence in the New Orleans area), but there is some amount of sea level rise that neither can withstand and that's far short of what will eventually happen. Probably not in my lifetime (I'm in my 50's), but it's coming.

[@Odin029]

I can sum this one up quickly... The entirety of Europe doesn't have a river like the Mississippi and when it floods there's no infrastructure on Earth that can contain it. Another thing is that the Netherlands isn't prone to hurricanes, which come through every so often and break EVERYTHING., flood control infrastructure included.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Great point!

[@theontologist]

But our infrastructure IS containing the Mississippi at New Orleans and points south -- and that's precisely the problem. That silt from floods is being washed far out into the Gulf instead of being spread across the coastal swamplands and exurban New Orleans.

[@termitesc.aardwolf3644]

Does this mean there will be scuba divers celebrating Mardi Gras in the future?

[@jaimerosado3896]

Not likely. The French Quarter is one of the few parts of New Orleans that’s above sea level. It didn’t even flood during Katrina.

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

@@jaimerosado3896 if one goes up the delta thru to NOLA, the Quarter would be literally washed away. it's a very long shot, but far from impossible, the ships go by the second story windows in the Quarter on a good day this time of year, if a storm surge floods the river like Katrina did with the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet [now dammed closed as a consequence of this], the river levees will be overtopped on both sides.

[@CarlaJacobs63]

The flood of 1995 was not in Amsterdam, not a single person had to be evacuated from there.

[@aidanbarrett9313]

Will you be making a future video on whether Venice may sink?

[@Mark16v15]

All it will take is another Katrina to convince homeowners to abandon the place, and the city will die off slowly except for the touristy parts like the French Quarter.

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

it's already underway

[@stischer47]

The original New Orleans (French Quarter) did not flood because of Katrina. In fact, 35% of the city proper above mean sea level. However, subsidence, soil desiccation, soil compaction, etc. has caused the percentage of New Orleans at or below mean sea level to continue to grow.

[@peterbohren3637]

Main difference: Louisiana has 4,5 million inhabitants and the Netherlands have 17 - so any water management regulations cost each citizen only 1/4th as much

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Great point!

[@SlapStyleAnims]

It would be called “socialism” if work to protect New Orleans was taken

[@cookiemonster0998]

Yeah and the 118th congress (currently Republican) is the least productive in history.

[@Yhowdyy]

And that’s why socialism shouldn’t be treated like an unspeakable evil

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

So what? Americans have the absolute legal right to be Socialists or Communists just like any other political party. Police and courts and judges and prisons are socialism. So anti-socialist = Anarchist. That would means I don't want police arresting anyone for the benefit of conservatives.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

So what? Americans have the absolute legal right to be Socialists or Communists just like any other political party. Police and courts and judges and prisons are socialism. So anti-socialist = Anarchist. That would means I don't want police arresting anyone for the benefit of conservatives.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

@@Yhowdyy Obviously. Americans have the absolute legal right to be Socialists or Communists just like any other political party. Police and courts and judges and prisons are socialism. So anti-socialist = Anarchist. That would means I don't want police arresting anyone for the benefit of conservatives. Just shove conservatives' language back down their throats.

[@randallbates8891]

Having spent time is Amsterdam in the early 70's and N.O. in the mid 70's, my observation is that the Dutch are willing and ready to pay taxes in order solve universal problems, whereas the typical American thinks ALL taxes are robbery. That and a lawyer in N.O. once told me that "I was living in the most corrupt city in the most corrupt state in America". I went to him to help me get my car back after an accident and it went missing. The police put me in the "drunk tank" cell because I refused to go to the hospital. The lawyer told me, "I know where your car is". I said,"great". He responded, "not really, because the police stole your car and sold it". That's why they wanted to separate me from my car." My response was, "really, you're joking, right?" That's when he told me about living in the most corrupt city/state in the USA!

[@birbluv9595]

This is shocking - but i suppose it’s not surprising. You are absolutely right that many Americans think there are no good taxes. Taxes are necessary to achieve social goods!

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Then defund the police and judges and courts, if cuntservatives are so "anti-tax".

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

@@birbluv9595 this is the root cause of nearly all of america's social and infrastructure issues. some states and cities raise taxes, and deal with the graft, keep people safe and happy. most simply won't. lifelong american, and New Orleans native. and for what it's worth, sorry for that BS, Mister Bates. 😕

[@ImJamieX]

Amsterdam is safe because everyone is HIGH 🤣

[@PreppyRblxAestheticEdits]

Omg Lol 😂😂😂

[@toddwerther188]

Could it be because we have an entire political party more devoted to grievance and make believe than governing? They have to be against anything that can make things better, because something-something 'woke'.

[@MadiCarl]

I live next to New Orleans 🫠 I wanna leave

[@xXLsUTiGeRsFaNXx]

Same I'm 15 mins away from nola on the northshore. Born and raised around new orleans. I've lived in 3 diff states and louisiana is worst of all of them. Super corrupt, the govt and most of the people. Texas was the best by far. Other states I lived in were mississippi and alabama. People in Texas are just genuinely happy people and have a great sense of community.

[@MadiCarl]

@@xXLsUTiGeRsFaNXx in my line of work I’ll probably be moving there eventually. Most likely to Austin or a surrounding town. We have friends and family there so hopefully that makes it easier when it happens. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Texas lately, except it’s becoming really expensive. Seems like a great place to live, though.

[@quietStorm247]

Geoff, you are right in pointing out that the city of New Orleans needed to update the drainage pumps. It would be helpful if you also include more info on the US Army Corps of Engineers recent levee projects that created a new protective barrier after Hurricane Katrina. The US Army Corps of Engineers is very competent in managing water.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Great point!

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Sounds sensible. I'm not quite certain how US Americans stand on considering things like water management / flood protection a national issue; with Mississipi being the poorest state of the US, I don't even think it's possible for New Orleans to update, expand and maintain it's protection on their own, never mind sensible. Of course: greetings from the EU, I grew up with the concept that you pay taxes and health insurance so your government has the money to install dikes, flood plains or the likes _well before_ the weather forecast is looking dire. (Of course, you then have to watch your dear elected representatives like a hawk to make sure they remember _whom_ the are supposed to represent. But come on, every boss will tell you that you've got to check your employees.)

[@AngeloTheUrbanist]

You should have also mentioned that while the Mississippi River is a threat in some ways, it is only the only reason New Orleans and most of the state of Louisiana even exists. It is a land-building machine; and it is always bringing down tons and tons of sediment from the North Central USA. Without sea level rise, the coast of Louisiana would be expanding instead of contracting. There are some efforts being implemented and worked on to help increase the river's land building capacity and retain more of the sediment that would otherwise be washed out into the open gulf.

[@delvintodavo9419]

Yes. This was a major aspect of our “doomed” case that this video failed to touch on much. In theory, we could be increasing in land even inspite of rising sea levels. However, the same levee systems protecting us from flooding also reduce the land building capabilities of the natural deposition of the MS river system by shoehorning all that sediment straight into the gulf instead of being distributed throughout our wetlands and coast. To boot, the delta is supposed to meander throughout southern LA. The levees we implemented keep it where it’s at. Naturally, it wouldn’t remain by NOLA

[@RealConstructor]

New Orleans doesn’t have to be doomed. I live almost 20feet below sea level for at least 60 years. It is just a fact of good water management and good resources. We pay a waterboard tax besides income tax and sales tax. The waterboard is a independent institution, with its own parliament, government and elections. Every citizen of our country lives in a waterboard area. That’s how we keep dry feet and can live up to 25 feet below sea level, the waterboard pays for maintenance and replacement of existing water defenses, the national government pays for new water defenses. It works just fine.

[@dafudd7779]

All the flow control and levies on the river are not allowing the Mississippi to deposit silt, which is the major problem that New Orleans faces, along with pumping underground water, which causes the subsidence. Building on a silt based sponge and then depriving the land of silt replenishment and pumping out ground water is what made New Orleans below sea level. It wasn't when they started.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Great point!

[@angloblaxon]

Nola metro resident here. The metro is extensive and much is outside the below sea level area. New orleans has less than 500k residents now. the netherlands is an entire country and has way more people than all of lousiana. New orleans is also basically a peninsula of soft clay. There are zero rocks in our soils here.

[@tigernga218]

You forgot the Mississippi River will change course sooner or later leaving New Orleans low and dry.

[@rhombusx]

Unfortunately for New Orleans, the extremity and high frequency of hurricanes requires a much more robust and resilient water management infrastructure as compared to Amsterdam.

[@theontologist]

This would be less true if we hadn't built so many levees that caused so much subsidence across southern Louisiana. The levees are responsible for loss of silt and land replenishment, for loss of wetlands, and thus for storm surges coming farther and farther inland.

[@atlandfrisk]

We've also been getting storms every single day for some reason this and last week

[@ejt3708]

Pretty tired of these "Upcoming" ads...

[@eddieliu350]

Yep I've had enough, unsubscribing!

[@chdreturns]

@@eddieliu350 Bye felicia, don't let the door hit your rear on the way out.

[@eddieliu350]

@@Betrayed_King Yea, notifications are already off. It’s not about notifications, it’s about the subscription tab!

[@GrumpyOldGamer9221]

I added the KZbin Premium membership a year or so ago. Reluctant to pay the monthly £12.99 at first, but no ads and background play made up for it.

[@hankd9675]

What’s wrong with ads? The video is free to watch! Nothing wrong with growing a business!

[@laurieanne3763]

Amsterdam doesn't have the hurricanes. That's why

[@k.c1126]

Amsterdam also has hundreds of years of trial and error to learn from.

[@gijsvanlieshout]

The levee/dike that you highlight at 6:35 and call the 'Afsluitdijk' is actually the Markermeerdijk (for a polder that never materialized). The Afsluitdijk is farther North, connecting Nooord-Holland and Friesland.

[@Nick-hq1bn]

It seems like a big difference is that a significant portion of the Netherlands population lives in the Amsterdam region while New Orleans is a significant minority of the US and Louisiana population. Amsterdam therefore has a lot more political influence. Let's also not forget that a lot of people in Louisiana have no desire to help the people who live in New Orleans, largely for racial and political reasons.

[@williamemrich9349]

Just a thought: They still need canals to remove the access water. Reroute the main Mississippi River down its alternate route away from New Orleans. With a dam and series of canals standing by for management control. At New Orleans they could extend the sea barrier out from where it’s at to 10 miles out into the Caribbean Sea.

[@michaelhiatt7377]

Great job!

[@sifridbassoon]

with all that made land, it's a good think that Amsterdam is not anywhere near a earthquake fault. I once considered moving to NO after I retired. Then Katrina happened.

[@Digital-Cajun]

I'm from New Orleans, and I can answer this question in one sentence. New Orleans only ACTS like it cares about it continued existence into the next century, where Amsterdam actually DOES care about it's existence into the next century.

[@garrettknapp-frey7712]

New Orleans is doomed simply because it's not a high enough priority for the federal government. NYC and Miami add more to GDP, and therefore get priority. New Orleans (true or not) is considered poor.

[@jimlawton4184]

I got curious as I was watching and followed along a map of New Orleans. I saw a couple canals but as you said nothing near Amsterdam. My question about New Orleans is: Why is there a Canal Street and Canal Boulevard, NEITHER of which contains or even crosses an actual canal? The street comes a couple blocks from Bayou St John which is there I guess but certainly not close enough to give the street its name. Were there canals there in the past?

[@bernardjharmsen304]

The street was named for a proposed canal that was never built.

[@jimlawton4184]

@@bernardjharmsen304 thank you

[@markcollins1012]

I grew up in New Orleans. Only after leaving have I learned about the dynamics at play here. It would have been a meaningful career to help figure out how to address these issues. It doesn't feel like New Orleans and Louisiana are doing enough. It's alarming that the area is sinking, and accelerating over time. I'm sure there are various strategies they can employ, but they need to happen sooner rather than later. But maintaining that bowl of levees doesn't seem to be a long-term answer. Fascinating, but scary at the same time.

[@The-rp6do]

I love how this week it’s my first time in Louisiana and I got this video recommended

[@Sacto1654]

Amsterdam is safe because of that gigantic flood control system that pretty much protects the whole country, built since the middle 1950's. Go out to the Dutch coastline and you'll see the amazing system to keep North Sea waters out even in heavy storms.

[@joshuayang0331]

There's two places that would never sink, mountains and the Netherlands

[@giacobbeperales5926]

They don't have gators in Amsterdam

[@geddon436]

Put aside New Orleans for a second, now research the entire state of louisiana, its ranked near or at the bottom in ALL qualtites of life metrics

[@ajs11201]

The essence is summarized at 10:00 and 11:25. The Dutch invested wisely, and when there were failures, they redoubled their efforts to fortify the levees and water management systems. The U.S., on the other hand, has an allergy to infrastructure spending, and people who aren't in the immediate area or who don't perceive some direct and personal benefits ruthlessly resist sending any public money to prevent damage, even to an iconic city as internationally important as New Orleans. I can hear the Midwest collectively saying "I've never been to New Orleans, so why should I care if it floods?"

[@sheridale75]

I think it's very odd that you singled out the Midwest. New Orleans is only a 2.5-hour flight, 1-day train ride, or a 15-hour road trip. I'm from the Midwest, have been to New Orleans 4 times, and care deeply about preserving both the city and the bayous.

[@ajs11201]

@@sheridale75 I am truly pleased to hear you say that. While I know that no area or group is monolithic, I singled out the Midwest as that's where my origins are, and too many family and friends couldn't give a rat's care about what happens in the next county, let alone someplace 15 hours away. I assure you I have relatives now in their 70s who've never been on an airplane and aren't about to try one at this stage of their life. Granted, these are rural folks, but boy are they sure insular in their beliefs. So, I am sorry that I lumped an entire group together--and I do know that there are many folks everywhere with global concerns.

[@frednorman1]

New Orleans also resides in a heavily Republican state that doesn’t believe in climate change and is possible the most backward state in the Union. Amsterdam is the capital of a very progressive country.

[@blazer9547]

Dutch government is literally far right. European right wingers believe in climate change

[@Mark16v15]

Wrong. It doesn't believe in "man-made" climate change. The climate is always changing. Everyone knows that.

[@gasstationsushi1999]

Louisiana historically was a blue state and changed relatively recently, which explains why it’s in as bad shape as it is. Democrats ruin everything they touch. Progressivism can’t build anything on its own, it needs something to leech off of

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

yea you rite. just saved everyone a few minutes, lol

[@atlandfrisk]

Don't even get me started on the new governor. I'm pretty sure he'd make slavery legal if had the chance.

[@piratecat990]

NOLA (and its metro area) has many canals. Some are covered over by roads; some are open-aired. In Amsterdam, nearly all are open-aired. As long as NOLA's drainage system has power, and the re-enforced levees hold, it is less likely that floods will occur as badly as Katrina. Just recently (Aug-Sep 2021) Hurricane IDA hit NOLA and the surrounding metro area. The major cause of concern was that many locations didn't have power...flooding wasn't bad. Supposedly during Katrina, some levees were manually destroyed in low-income areas, to prevent even more damage...epic fail, bc other levees failed on their own. My home was in Lakeview area...it was under water by the end of the storm surge, mainly bc of the failed levees and the drainage systems losing power to the pumps. They can only pump out so much water to the lake, before the lake overflows. This was odd bc the nearest major suburb (Metairie) didn't have nearly as much of an issue with broken levees. (It is also a much younger area (infrastructure-wise). Before anyone goes on a political rant about Louisiana being ran by Republicans, the city has been ran by Democrats for the past couple of decades (Landrieu held office during Katrina). The city has major influence over the state funding...to little avail for everyone, except for those in power. The gov't has its corrupt members on both sides.

[@УправляющаякомпанияТОРГрупп]

You want to save New Orleans? move the Dutch population of Amesterdam to New Orleans, they will save it...there you go, i adressed the elephant in the room)

[@DefensisIndus]

New Orleans should start building everything on huge decks, so it always feels like a futuristic Porch party

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

this is how most of our suburbs started, literally. then they pumped the water out for McNhoods. which are all now slums with flooding issues.

[@zews1]

The Afsluitdijk is incorrectly marked. It’s much farther up north between Noord Holland and Friesland.

[@timsmith5133]

We saw W's lack of response to Hurricane Katrina flooding New Orleans decades ago. The problem is partly political. - Gen Z

[@kirkhepburnmiddleagedwhiteguy]

New Orleans is the single most strategic city in the nation.

[@b_uppy]

The US Wedt and Midwest has poor rail coverage compared to the East Coast and poorer India. We need to increase rail coverage where it is weak, instead of financially promoting EVs. With better raol covrrage EVs become more viable, whole the overall cost of living reduces. It would help if the US took over rail ownership, and thus maintenance and improvement of rail in general. Train companies could remain private and competitive. Rail needs to happen. Roads decrease water permeability and take up a huge amount of space...

[@muddywaders]

Super repetitive. Tighten it up.

[@glike2]

A solution to end flooding problems for New Orleans is to build water pipelines, preferably next to major highways to expedite and facilitate the construction, to use the Mississippi river excess water to refill Lake Powell and Lake Mead is important for National security as it allows greater agriculture instead of the current curtailment. It also allows food exports which improves global security and dollar strength through greater exports. We should strive for enough excess agriculture to create a grain food Bank in Arctic or Antarctic storage. One option is a pipeline from Memphis area reservoir or Keokuk reservoir to Lake Powell. 2-axis floating solar on Lake Mead and Lake Powell could be used to maximize solar power hours and use the excess solar power for pumping water through the pipelines. The Western USA has a lot of agriculture potential with agrivoltaics, a win win with water being a limiting factor. The Western mega drought is curtailing farming. The USA needs a new pipeline from the massive excess water Louisiana Mississippi River bypass (Atchafalaya flood way basin) to Colorado River reservoirs could solve all the west mega drought problems and be great for agriculture and pay for itself. The Arizona, Western USA and New Orleans water crisis is easy to solve with a pipeline from the Atchafalaya flood way basin in Louisiana that would take excess flow from the Mississippi River and store it in lake Mead or lake Powell. Cost $21 Billion, but it will pay for itself and make a lot of money with an expansion of agriculture in the West. Call your Senators and Representative to request support for the "Coalition For A National Infrastructure Bank" H.R. 3339, which is an excellent plan to build a pipeline from the Atchafalaya flood way basin using only a small percentage to refill Lake Mead and Powell. Search for nibcoalition national-infrastructure-bank-petition-water-crisis Call Congress for HR3339 and Share Her is plenty of water if we actually stop dumping it in the Gulf of Mexico. Call your Senators and Representative to request support for the "Coalition For A National Infrastructure Bank" which has an excellent plan to build a pipeline from the Atchafalaya flood way basin using only a small percentage to refill Lake Mead and Powell. According to Wikipedia, "The Mississippi River floods most years, usually in late spring when runoff is at its peak. The intensity of flooding can vary from year to year, and some years can be devastating. For example, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was one of the most destructive floods in US history, destroying thousands of homes and businesses. The 2019 flood was also significant, lasting 235 days and surpassing the 1927 flood's record of 152 days above flood stage. "

[@ZacharyDussault]

Amsterdam is primarily filled with wealthy white residents and New Orleans is primarily filled with poorer black people in a systemically racist country. There should be a cost benefit analysis on whether or not it is worth it to "save" New Orleans, especially if federal intervention is requested. It is not a resilient city to climate change and no longer strategically important to the US.

[@bobsinhav]

You should do New Orleans and Kolkata!

[@BHNative]

I love the videos here, but I don't get why it's formatted as if there was a massive cable ad in the middle of it. Sounded very repetitive to see him talk about the low sea level around 4 times one after the other, illustrating the same differences and not really getting anywhere. The second part of the video is literally everything he'd just said, even the same schematics and historic videos.

[@chrisschaeffer9661]

Americans hate to pay taxes and the taxes we do pay get pissed away. So We can't have Good Things.

[@prabirmehta1089]

One more reason is that New Orleans is susceptible to hurricanes and Amsterdam is not.

[@jaimeortega4940]

NO is surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico. It is also lower than sea level essentially a bowl surrounded by water. This is bound to fail at some point.

[@theontologist]

No more so than Amsterdam.

[@jaimeortega4940]

Amsterdam has engineers and money and have already mitigated some of this. Orleans has casinos and restaurants. See the difference?

[@theontologist]

@@jaimeortega4940 Amsterdam has national support. New Orleans is robbed and starved by Republicans.

[@melodyhart1331]

A sacrifice must be made, allow the area below New Orleans recieve the yearly floods,before the flood season the area must be evacuated ,allow reoccupation after the floods for cattle grazing and tiny homes.Provide those who must leave land to settle on .

[@pyhead9916]

You should mention the first state to go under water if the sea rises is the State of Delaware, which is only 60 feet above sea level.

[@Alex-1291]

Great video Geoff. It would be interesting if you could compare it with Venice. It's maybe something between by the two cities

[@miatx6818]

The Afsluitdijk is the upper one not the one you showed

[@Versedyoutube]

Damn lol I had a video coming out on this tomorrow

[@Bartkonig]

6:37 the dike highlighted is NOT the Afsluitdijk. It's the one to the north at the start of North Holland (province) and west of Friesland (province). That dike makes the two bodies of water Ijselmeer en Markermeer.😌

[@rad4924]

The answer is marijuana legality: Amsterdam the city is below sea level, but the people who live there are all high in the clouds.

[@allgoodinselsareunalive]

far out! good thing New Orleans decriminalized, that'll save us!

[@antonleimbach648]

We Dutch have been fighting the North Sea for 500 years. We are also a pragmatic people and work together for the common good of our society. Come to the Netherlands and see for yourself.

[@larrywilliams9139]

You failed to mention the greatest threat to New Orleans' future. The natural tendency of the Mississippi is to wander across its flood plain. The gulf would rapidly encroach on the city if the river jumped into a new channel.

[@lougaru2445]

Great subject idea!

[@JustinJamesJeep]

Why is your writing so repetitive? Feels like the videos always start over multiple times. Makes them feel way longer than they are.

[@allengalley2015]

My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in? New Orleans is sinking, man, and I don't wanna swim.

[@samkelomambisa1897]

Am I the only one who's got issues with the maps used? They supposed to give you a quick and easy to understand view of what's what and where it is. I can't tell where the ocean is and how far each is, not to mention lakes, rivers, etc. it's just dark on more dark. Is it my TV?

[@nofacebigfootgaming6008]

Maybe I am getting old, but nowhere is it mentioned that New Orleans is sitting in a bowl.

[@Damons-Old-Soul]

I'm curious if letting the Mississippi take the path of least resistance that it is currently being kept from taking (it would empty into The Gulf west of where it does now), would help or hurt the flooding of New Orleans. It is said to do a lot of economic damage to the city, but how would it effect the flooding issues?

[@HandyMan657]

Geography is an amazing thing, and clearly, Amsterdam gives a damn about its city and the people within it. Here in the states, it's as simple as the state of Louisiana, a republican led state, does not care about a black liberal city, historic or not. There is no investment to be made to protect it, at least not past the bare minimum. Sadly, it comes to that, but that particular group of people has made it quite clear they have no interest in assisting anyone but their own. And even then, only conditionally.

[@jamesalias595]

NOLA was not originally below sea level, modern activities made it below sea level. Climate change if you factor in ice melting due to a variety of factors will be much higher in the North Sea than in the Gulf of Mexico, so climate change sea level rise isn't the real threat to NOLA, it is the possibility of increased storms and increased heavy rain events. It might be more cost effective in the longer term to relocate NOLA to a safer location further inland, as many of it's suburbs are located further inland already, so pay to buy out and remove the worst flood prone areas. So eventually most of NOLA city would need to be moved to the suburbs, it happens naturally in many cites where the urban center moves away from downtown, maybe it just needs a little push in NOLA.

[@jeanpitre5789]

As someone who has lived in new orleans my entire life, im cool with nature taking it back. The city is way too corrupt with no real economy outside of tourism. Its been on borrowed time for centuries.

[@PauldeVrieze]

It should be said that the Deltawerken (delta works) don't actually protect Amsterdam. And the afsluitdijk is in the north, not the dam that closes the markermeer.

[@benahaus]

The wetlands of southern Louisiana didn't take "thousands of years" to develop. Try millions. Also, New Orleans gets TWICE the rainfall of Amsterdam. Lake Pontchartrain isn't even a lake, but rather a bay opening into the Gulf of Mexico; hence the immense storm surge during hurricanes. Leave it to the French to build a city six feet under sea level.

[@pickledgrammar7679]

amsterdam has sea level rising at a yrly rate of 1.46mm per yr, or 0.48 ft per 100 yrs, near new orleans is 9.16mm per yr or 3 ft per 100 yrs

[@Mark16v15]

The sea level isn't rising, but the land is sinking.

[@Yhowdyy]

Source?

[@Mark16v15]

@@Yhowdyy Common sense. There's a reason the word "level" is in the term "sea level". The oceans are all the same level. If the sea level rose 10 feet somewhere, it would have to rise 10 feet everywhere. That's just the way water works. What's really going on isn't the sea level rising, but the land sinking. Land sinks at different rates at different places. There's a place near me where about 50 years ago, it was a pasture close to a creek right by the Gulf of Mexico. That pasture is now underwater, but the water level at the bridge nearby is the same? Obviously sea levels didn't rise on the land, but it sunk. Before Europeans built along the swampy lower Mississippi River, occasional flooding would bring in silt to make up for the sinking land, so that it stayed about the same height. But that flooding would take out man-made structures. Therefore they started building levees around the river to mitigate the flooding. Well, guess what, the land started sinking and continued to sink without stopping. You've been duped by false media reports (same goes with man-made climate change).

[@harmg937]

And the evacuation in 1995 was at least 100km from Amsterdam. nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuatie_van_het_Rivierenland?wprov=sfla1