Lately I’ve seen a lot of ink and bits spilled about whether to move New Orleans.  NOLA is unique, because it is mostly below sea level. It is also part of an industrial corridor sometimes called the American Ruhr.  And it is the port for a third of the U.S.  And the whole levee system is an artificial attempt to contain a river that naturally changes course every so often.  All those points are worth separate discussion.

But here I’d like to address the underlying assumption of many people who suggest moving New Orleans: that it can’t happen here, here being wherever the writer is.

Let me pick on Boston.  Everyone knows that Boston never gets serious hurricanes, right? Yet downtown Boston is surrounded on three sides by water and has a typical elevation of about 20 feet.  Boston’s Back Bay is built on landfill about that high above the Charles River, and might subside if flooded. Then there’s the Big Dig, which undermines numerous buildings; what would it do if completely flooded? Plus Bostonians aren’t used to preparing for hurricanes.

The Great Colonial Hurricane

Yet it can happen here.  It has, in August 1636, with with 20 foot ocean surge.