I’ve always been of the opinion that nature bats last and it has been borne out time and again over the years when hurricanes or other natural things conspire to show mankind who the Big Who Dat really is. I get a kick out of seeing anything advertised as being “(whatever)proof” because, sure as Tom Benson’s gonna have another hissyfit, nature is twist it, break it, swallow it or otherwise ruin it, then stand back and say, all-Pancho Villa-like, “So — what you think NOW, Senor Smarty Pantalones?”

This is why I got such a charge when I got this morning’s paper and saw this article.

Now, I’m not going to be naive enough to believe we’ll ever, as a society, stop building in places where nature says we shouldn’t. Nor should we. If we never pushed the man vs. nature limits, we’d have never accomplished much of anything. I mean — SOMEone had to dare to eat the first oyster.

But I also hope we get a bit more of a clue this time and keep in mind who’s making the rules. It’s going to be a decade, if ever, before our levees are ever built to withstand a Category Five system. By my count, that means at least ten more hurricane seasons and a half-score more years of quaking in our shrimp boots every June 1st.

If we’re going to rebuild public housing like they say, can we at least build it better this time? And maybe a little UP???

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