Spring Break
Rebuilding New Orleans
CSU experts talk about the storm and its aftermath
Bob Shipton
Issue date: 2/19/07 Section: News
"I don't think you could have prepared for a thing like this," Don Goldstein said. "What you saw on television is 1 percent of what actually happened, and when you hear about Katrina, the average person really has no conception of all of the groups involved."
Don Goldstein's town home rested four feet below sea level, and just 100 feet behind the 17th Street canal, which takes water from residential areas into Lake Pontchartrain. When the levee broke, water was forced down the canal in the opposite direction and nine feet of water rushed inside the first floor of Don's home within 10 seconds.
Phil made a trip to New Orleans after Katrina to retrieve some of his father's belongings. The furniture was displaced throughout the house; one foot of sewage covered the floor, a dead fish and movies from a nearby Blockbuster also littered the floor.
"The pictures were colorful," Don Goldstein said.
While disasters of this magnitude are difficult to foresee, Don thinks the best way people can help themselves is to prepare for the consequences. He was fortunate enough to have flood insurance included in his coverage.
"You can't afford not to have (flood insurance) because this is going to happen again," he said. "The levees are the same levees."
Both father and son are anxious to see New Orleans reestablished as an economically viable and culturally vibrant city. Phil said the retaining the culture of New Orleans is argument enough to refurbish it.
"If you're not going to talk about the culture than what are you going to talk about? One of the best arguments for rebuilding New Orleans is how unique it is in a country that is so homogeneous," Phil Goldstein said.
While Don is happy to be a resident of Fort Collins, he said New Orleans needs to be restored and hopes that others in the community, like his daughter, decide to rebuild.
"You just can't do without New Orleans," he said. "If you know the history, you understand. People don't want to give up."
Staff writer Bob Shipton can be reached at news@collegian.com.
Don Goldstein's town home rested four feet below sea level, and just 100 feet behind the 17th Street canal, which takes water from residential areas into Lake Pontchartrain. When the levee broke, water was forced down the canal in the opposite direction and nine feet of water rushed inside the first floor of Don's home within 10 seconds.
Phil made a trip to New Orleans after Katrina to retrieve some of his father's belongings. The furniture was displaced throughout the house; one foot of sewage covered the floor, a dead fish and movies from a nearby Blockbuster also littered the floor.
"The pictures were colorful," Don Goldstein said.
While disasters of this magnitude are difficult to foresee, Don thinks the best way people can help themselves is to prepare for the consequences. He was fortunate enough to have flood insurance included in his coverage.
"You can't afford not to have (flood insurance) because this is going to happen again," he said. "The levees are the same levees."
Both father and son are anxious to see New Orleans reestablished as an economically viable and culturally vibrant city. Phil said the retaining the culture of New Orleans is argument enough to refurbish it.
"If you're not going to talk about the culture than what are you going to talk about? One of the best arguments for rebuilding New Orleans is how unique it is in a country that is so homogeneous," Phil Goldstein said.
While Don is happy to be a resident of Fort Collins, he said New Orleans needs to be restored and hopes that others in the community, like his daughter, decide to rebuild.
"You just can't do without New Orleans," he said. "If you know the history, you understand. People don't want to give up."
Staff writer Bob Shipton can be reached at news@collegian.com.
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