[LINK] "New Orleans is sinking/and I don't know how to swim"

[rfmcdonald]

From the Los Angeles Times:

Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an immediate mandatory evacuation today for all of New Orleans, a city sitting below sea level with 485,000 inhabitants, as Hurricane Katrina bore down with wind revved up to nearly 175 mph and a threat of a massive storm surge.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort including the Superdome arena.

"This is a once in a lifetime event," the mayor said. "The city of New Orleans has never seen a hurricane of this magnitude hit it directly."

I wonder how viable this city is, even in the medium run, if global warming continues.