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View Full Version : If the New Orleans flood happened in OKC



TUSooner
3/13/2006, 11:17 PM
I was trying to explain to my Dad in OKC the extent of Katrina's devastation in New Orleans. Sure, everybody's tired of hearing about it, but imagine what OKC would look like if the devastation of Katrina flood happened there:

Draw a line along NE/NW 63rd St from Sooner Rd in the East to Rockwell in the West; toss in Wiley Post Airport for kicks. Widen the swath up to Wilshire Bvd & Lake Hefner in the north (include Nichols Hills), and down to NE/NW 39th St in the south. Stretch the area down to NW/NE 23rd from OCU to around the Capitol.
Now empty that whole area, every neighborhood, all the houses, all the businesses, large and small, every friggin block -- completely empty, with a capital F. Tear out some carpets and sheetrock and lumber and shingles and pile the stuff by the streets. Draw some brown horizontal lines on all the buildings between 3 and 8 feet off the ground (to imitate highwater marks). Let it get all wet and moldy for a few weeks. Bricktown and Downtown are OK, but where do those people from the empty neighborhoods live? Where do they work?
THAT's about what New Orleans is like.

jk the sooner fan
3/13/2006, 11:20 PM
were you able to save the Village?

;)

thanks for that TU, thats an interesting perspective.....one that drives it home

TUSooner
3/13/2006, 11:22 PM
The Village survived; my brother delivers the mail there. ;)

Stanley1
3/13/2006, 11:22 PM
Pfft.

;)

jk the sooner fan
3/13/2006, 11:24 PM
i know you got nichols hills, but there's a jimmy's egg in casady square there that i like.....lets let that be the ONE business that survived

mailmen gotta eat breakfast :)

TUSooner
3/13/2006, 11:26 PM
i know you got nichols hills, but there's a jimmy's egg in casady square there that i like.....lets let that be the ONE business that survived

mailmen gotta eat breakfast :)
Sorry, but all those little spots you take for granted, including <gasp> my favorite - Braums, are gone, and you don't know whether they will be back or not. :(

jk the sooner fan
3/13/2006, 11:27 PM
ok hang on, by my calculations you wiped out both johnnies....

lets not get crazy ok?

Jimminy Crimson
3/14/2006, 12:08 AM
i know you got nichols hills, but there's a jimmy's egg in casady square there that i like.....lets let that be the ONE business that survived

mailmen gotta eat breakfast :)

If The Village survived, your Jimmy's Egg is safe. :texan:

jk the sooner fan
3/14/2006, 12:15 AM
its on the south side of britton......no?

SicEmBaylor
3/14/2006, 12:32 AM
Whew! Tulsa is safe, that was a close one!

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/14/2006, 12:39 AM
It would have to be another Noah's Ark situation, as OKC is what, 600 ft. above sea level?

Sooner Born Sooner Bred
3/14/2006, 12:48 AM
So everyone who has made fun of the southside all those years are homeless now? Hmmm karma's a beyatch.

BajaOklahoma
3/14/2006, 12:53 AM
No biggie - all those people will just pick up and move to the burbs. ;)

As long as Norman is okay.....

Jimminy Crimson
3/14/2006, 12:53 AM
So everyone who has made fun of the southside all those years are homeless now? Hmmm karma's a beyatch.

No, Edmond is still above ground! :D

Jimminy Crimson
3/14/2006, 12:56 AM
its on the south side of britton......no?

He just said up to Wilshire, so Casady Square and the 'original' Johnnie's are still rockin'! :cool:

Newbomb Turk
3/14/2006, 08:01 AM
man - my house barely survived. I feel for those that live a little south of me though.

jk the sooner fan
3/14/2006, 08:34 AM
He just said up to Wilshire, so Casady Square and the 'original' Johnnie's are still rockin'! :cool:

whew, thank god for that

JohnnyMack
3/14/2006, 10:00 AM
I have no idea what you're talking about. Can you redraw Katrina over Tulsa please? Thanks.

12
3/14/2006, 10:07 AM
That is an interesting comparison. I still wonder, though, why such a large city was constructed where N.O. was. Something HAD to give. And I think it will happen again.

Sandwiched between a gulf, a huge lake, and one of the world's largest rivers... not quite up to code IMO.

slickdawg
3/14/2006, 10:09 AM
Well, the flood would fix a lot of the wildfire problems.....

OUthunder
3/14/2006, 10:14 AM
No, Edmond is still above ground! :D


Too bad.

Pieces Hit
3/14/2006, 10:17 AM
And what if Godzilla attacked OKC instead of Tokyo?

usmc-sooner
3/14/2006, 10:21 AM
man you know OK is safe every county in the state voted for Bush. :D

Frozen Sooner
3/14/2006, 10:55 AM
That is an interesting comparison. I still wonder, though, why such a large city was constructed where N.O. was. Something HAD to give. And I think it will happen again.

Sandwiched between a gulf, a huge lake, and one of the world's largest rivers... not quite up to code IMO.

Gotta have a deepwater port there.

Ports have docks.

Docks need workers.

People are kinda shortsighted and tend to build businesses near where people live.

People try to live close to where they work.

12
3/14/2006, 11:12 AM
Gotta have a deepwater port there.

Ports have docks.

Docks need workers.

People are kinda shortsighted and tend to build businesses near where people live.

People try to live close to where they work.

Fair enough. Still seems a more likely spot for an "industrial city" and not so much for skyscrapers, huge arenas, universities and such.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 11:25 AM
That is an interesting comparison. I still wonder, though, why such a large city was constructed where N.O. was. Something HAD to give. And I think it will happen again.

Sandwiched between a gulf, a huge lake, and one of the world's largest rivers... not quite up to code IMO.
"[Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de]Bienville wrote to the Directors of the Company [of the Indies] in 1717 that he had discovered a crescent bend in the Mississippi River which he felt was safe from tidal waves and hurricanes and proposed that the new capitol of the colony be build there. Permission was granted, and Bienville set off in 1718 to start construction. By 1719, a sufficient number of huts and storage houses had been built that Bienville began moving supplies and troops from Mobile. Following disagreements with the chief engineer of the colony, Le Blond de la Tour, Bienville ordered an assistant engineer, Adrien de Pauger, to draw up plans for the new city in 1720. Pauger drew up the eleven-by-seven block rectangle now known as the French Quarter or the Vieux Carre. After moving into his new home on the site of what is now the Custom House, Bienville named the new city "La Nouvelle-Orléans" in honor of Louis Phillipe, Duke of Orléans and Prince Regent of France."
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6431/jblemoynedebienville7vn.gifhttp://img65.imageshack.us/img65/1840/fq12fu.jpg
In other words, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

soonerbrat
3/14/2006, 11:58 AM
ok hang on, by my calculations you wiped out both johnnies....

lets not get crazy ok?


there are more than 2 johnnies restaurants now...one at memorial and may and 2 in edmond.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 01:27 PM
there are more than 2 johnnies restaurants now...one at memorial and may and 2 in edmond.
But see - since the Big Okie Flood, you now have to drive all the way to frikkin Edmond just for some Johnny's !! Get the point? <shakes head>
;)

soonerbrat
3/14/2006, 01:30 PM
it's not that far from me..i live in frickin edmond

Okla-homey
3/14/2006, 01:38 PM
You know TU, the thing is, the media have moved on. The simple fact is, speaking strictly in generalities, nobody really cares anymore. Sad, but that's just the way it is.

I know you understand this, but NOLA must either pull itself up by its own bootstraps like SF, Chicago and the Missouri valley did after the great floods of the early 1990's -- or be relegated to the museum shelves with Carthage, Troy and places we can't name because no one remembers them.

SOONER44EVER
3/14/2006, 01:55 PM
I'd have to walk 2 blocks to dry ground. At least the rioting will be in one area since the Myriad and the Ford Center are right across the street from each other. How many Wal-Marts will the cops loot?

FaninAma
3/14/2006, 02:34 PM
i know you got nichols hills, but there's a jimmy's egg in casady square there that i like.....lets let that be the ONE business that survived

mailmen gotta eat breakfast :)

Jimmy's Egg has the worst service evar. They don't deserve to get spared.

Hamhock
3/14/2006, 02:46 PM
I have no idea what you're talking about. Can you redraw Katrina over Tulsa please? Thanks.


Por favor?

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 03:07 PM
You know TU, the thing is, the media have moved on. The simple fact is, speaking strictly in generalities, nobody really cares anymore. Sad, but that's just the way it is.

I know you understand this, but NOLA must either pull itself up by its own bootstraps like SF, Chicago and the Missouri valley did after the great floods of the early 1990's -- or be relegated to the museum shelves with Carthage, Troy and places we can't name because no one remembers them.
That's my mantra to anyone who will listen down here - which is limited to my dog, who just doesn't get it.
My post is not about "getting anything" for New Orleans, not even sympathy, really. It just seemed like a chance to relay my experience in a way OKC folks can relate to, which is exactly what I was trying to do when I was talking to my Dad the other night. Isn't that what we generally do here on the SO?
On the other hand, I will not refuse contributions to the TUSooner Rest Relaxation and Take a Long Vacation to Get Away from it All Fund. :D

Jimminy Crimson
3/14/2006, 03:07 PM
there are more than 2 johnnies restaurants now...one at memorial and may and 2 in edmond.

11 Johnnie's locations. :texan:

jk the sooner fan
3/14/2006, 03:09 PM
Jimmy's Egg has the worst service evar. They don't deserve to get spared.

depends on which one you go too

i dont know of any breakfast place that has good service......ihop, waffle slut, they're all bad

but the food at jimmys egg is good, so i go


and if the johnnies folks were really smart, they'd franchise a location to me in north dallas.....with all the transplanted okies down here, i think it would do quite well

jeremy885
3/14/2006, 03:19 PM
"[Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de]Bienville wrote to the Directors of the Company [of the Indies] in 1717 that he had discovered a crescent bend in the Mississippi River which he felt was safe from tidal waves and hurricanes and proposed that the new capitol of the colony be build there. Permission was granted, and Bienville set off in 1718 to start construction. By 1719, a sufficient number of huts and storage houses had been built that Bienville began moving supplies and troops from Mobile. Following disagreements with the chief engineer of the colony, Le Blond de la Tour, Bienville ordered an assistant engineer, Adrien de Pauger, to draw up plans for the new city in 1720. Pauger drew up the eleven-by-seven block rectangle now known as the French Quarter or the Vieux Carre. After moving into his new home on the site of what is now the Custom House, Bienville named the new city "La Nouvelle-Orléans" in honor of Louis Phillipe, Duke of Orléans and Prince Regent of France."
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6431/jblemoynedebienville7vn.gifhttp://img65.imageshack.us/img65/1840/fq12fu.jpg
In other words, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."


But didn't the French Quarter survive Katrina with only minor damage?

Okla-homey
3/14/2006, 03:22 PM
That's my mantra to anyone who will listen down here - which is limited to my dog, who just doesn't get it.
My post is not about "getting anything" for New Orleans, not even sympathy, really. It just seemed like a chance to relay my experience in a way OKC folks can relate to, which is exactly what I was trying to do when I was talking to my Dad the other night. Isn't that what we generally do here on the SO?
On the other hand, I will not refuse contributions to the TUSooner Rest Relaxation and Take a Long Vacation to Get Away from it All Fund. :D

I certainly didn't mean to imply you were looking for sympathy or an outpouring of support. I know you. I was just making an observation.

I just wish you could wrap things up and GTF out of there. I know, easy for me to say. I guess all that moving during my AF career kinda makes it too easy for me to personally minimize the importance of a "sense of place" and "home" in people. I understand what's keeping you there. I just wish it were'nt because I think over the long term, you guys would be happier and healthier back here.

I know you're on the ground there and know far better than me so here's my question. Can NOLA achieve pre-Katrina normalcy within 10 or even 20 years given all the social, economic and political factors and forces adding stress to the situation?

FaninAma
3/14/2006, 03:27 PM
JK, the only two times I've eaten at a Jimmy's Egg the wait staff was rude and you basically lined up to fight for a table with other customers because they didn't keep a waiting list.

A Katrina-like disaster couldn't happen in OKC since the OKC city fathers, past and present, weren't stupid enough to build the city 20 feet below sea level and then not have an evacuation plan ready when the inevitable category 4 or 5 hurricane hit. So the question is a non-sequiter.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 03:42 PM
I certainly didn't mean to imply you were looking for sympathy or an outpouring of support. I know you. I was just making an observation.

I just wish you could wrap things up and GTF out of there. I know, easy for me to say. I guess all that moving during my AF career kinda makes it too easy for me to personally minimize the importance of a "sense of place" and "home" in people. I understand what's keeping you there. I just wish it were'nt because I think over the long term, you guys would be happier and healthier back here.

I know you're on the ground there and know far better than me so here's my question. Can NOLA achieve pre-Katrina normalcy within 10 or even 20 years given all the social, economic and political factors and forces adding stress to the situation?

In 1 year we plan to reassess whether to GTFO.
Frankly, I have no idea what, if anything, this city can achieve, ever. If "pre-Katrina normalcy" is our goal, Lawd he'p us; we're lost already. And whether we can do better is a dubious matter . As someone implied the other day on the op-ed page, if a hurricane hits Port-au-Prince, the city does not come back as Stockholm (and I'm not talking about the color of the inhabitants, I'm talking about orderliness and the niceties of Western Civ.) New Orleans has deep cultural flaws that too many people shrug off or find charming; that doesn't suggest that needed improvement is forthcoming .

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 03:44 PM
And BTW, I like Johnny's (NW Exwy) and Jimmy's Egg (the one at Wilshire & MacArthur down the road from Hefner Middle School).

12
3/14/2006, 03:55 PM
TU, I didn't mean in any way to insult your city. I've been there a few times and have always had entirely too much fun. Now that you are back in that area, I wish you well and hope it all works out.

Still, the scope of that city from generations ago will never make sense to me.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 04:05 PM
TU, I didn't mean in any way to insult your city. I've been there a few times and have always had entirely too much fun. Now that you are back in that area, I wish you well and hope it all works out.

Still, the scope of that city from generations ago will never make sense to me.

Once I negged Penguin for taking a cheap shot at NOLA, but now I know he was right. My real home is Oklahoma, always will be. I'm just trying to make the best of things here in my children's hometown and the place where my job requires me to be. I sometimes love this place but often despise it; after 30 years I understand it all too well, but still can't really accept it. It's a confusing dealio.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/14/2006, 04:45 PM
Once I negged Penguin for taking a cheap shot at NOLA, but now I know he was right. My real home is Oklahoma, always will be. I'm just trying to make the best of things here in my children's hometown and the place where my job requires me to be. I sometimes love this place but often despise it; after 30 years I understand it all too well, but still can't really accept it. It's a confusing dealio.In the back of everyone's mind is the fact that those levees aren't adequate for a cat.#5, and it's da*n silly to be there until that problem is resolved!!!

OU Adonis
3/14/2006, 04:47 PM
If OKC flooded like NO, you would have people from Sapulpa comming up on the weekends looking for all the good noodling spots.

http://www.azod.com/Photo-of-Week/2003/USED/Noodling3.jpg

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/14/2006, 04:53 PM
That might be the biggest Flathead I've ever seen.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 05:02 PM
http://www.azod.com/Photo-of-Week/2003/USED/Noodling3.jpg

Dang. I guess that fish never realized he could have swallowed the guy.

bigdsooner
3/14/2006, 05:03 PM
im tryin to esplain this to my kids, can anyone desrcibe how tulsa would look

thanks

C&CDean
3/14/2006, 05:07 PM
One major difference would be the people of OKC rallying together and carrying each other through the mess - instead of blaming the prez, FEMA, whitey, and robbing and stealing everything in sight. Like the NOLAites did.

I've been down there many times. All before Katrina. It was such a filthy, decadent, rotten, smelly, foul city before the hurricane, I can't really imagine it being much worse. Of course I'm limiting my scope to the "touristy" parts of town.

I feel sorry for the hardworking, honest people who've lost everything down there. Unfortunately, methinks they're outnumbered by the n'er-do-wells.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 05:07 PM
im tryin to esplain this to my kids, can anyone desrcibe how tulsa would look

thanks
I wish I had farking skills or even minimal photo-post8ing skils. (Or evn typing skils. :rolleyes: ) It wouold be interesting to superimpose a photo of flooded NOLA on top of a map of other cities.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 05:09 PM
Ohh. check this out: Floode NOLA superimposed on a map of Boston.

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/hurricanes/multimedia/globe_map/

bigdsooner
3/14/2006, 05:13 PM
I wish I had farking skills or even minimal photo-post8ing skils. (Or evn typing skils. :rolleyes: ) It wouold be interesting to superimpose a photo of flooded NOLA on top of a map of other cities.

ya aint alone in the skillz dept :D

usmc-sooner
3/14/2006, 05:16 PM
I wonder if God wants OKC to be another Chocolate City. Instead OKC it would be known as OCC=Oklahoma Chocolate City.


But if we did that what would Charles Barkley say being that Oklahoma is no place for black people. I'm confused. :D

BigRedJed
3/14/2006, 05:20 PM
Ohh. check this out: Floode NOLA superimposed on a map of Boston.

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/hurricanes/multimedia/globe_map/
Holy crap. You wouldn't be able to take the T anywhere in that mess.

slickdawg
3/14/2006, 05:29 PM
Once I negged Penguin for taking a cheap shot at NOLA, but now I know he was right. My real home is Oklahoma, always will be. I'm just trying to make the best of things here in my children's hometown and the place where my job requires me to be. I sometimes love this place but often despise it; after 30 years I understand it all too well, but still can't really accept it. It's a confusing dealio.

Sadly enough, I completely understand this.

OU Adonis
3/14/2006, 05:41 PM
Once I negged Penguin for taking a cheap shot at NOLA, but now I know he was right. My real home is Oklahoma, always will be. I'm just trying to make the best of things here in my children's hometown and the place where my job requires me to be. I sometimes love this place but often despise it; after 30 years I understand it all too well, but still can't really accept it. It's a confusing dealio.

Its kinda like making out with your sister isn't it TU? Sometimes its fun, a lot of times though feel bad about it.



Not that I have ever done such a thing.

TUSooner
3/14/2006, 11:07 PM
Its kinda like making out with your sister isn't it TU? Sometimes its fun, a lot of times though feel bad about it.



Not that I have ever done such a thing.
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: