Hurricanes, Breached Levees, Storm Surges? Could it Happen in Asheville??

As the world views the devestation left by Hurricane Katrina, some in Asheville are asking, could what happen in New Orleans happen here? Though most scientists say it’s impossible we’ve managed to find a scientist who says, “That might not be as crazy as it sounds, and Asheville us unprepared for such an event.”

"Imagine this doomsday scenario,” says George Hameltree, a scientist from Devry University. “The East Coast suddenly falls off into the ocean breaking off somewhere near Old Fort. A meteor hits the North Pole melting all the glaciers while a category-5 hurricane plows into Western North Carolina. Are we prepared for such an event? I think not."

“I’m not saying live in fear, just acknowledge the fact that the city of Asheville is ill-prepared to help it’s citizens if say the levees we don't have were to burst from the ocean that is hundreds of miles away.”

Hameltree is proposing building a 60-foot high levee around Asheville along with a "Noah's Arc" like floatation device that can hold the entire population of Asheville. He thinks investing heavily in fishing vessels and building future coastal resort areas in and around Asheville is a necessity. He also wants to gather funding for extensive research on the effects of the East Coast breaking off somewhere around Old Fort. "If we don't act now" Hameltree says, "Asheville's future fishing industry will be totally destroyed, along with our beach resorts? And the children? For god sakes, the children."