"The Orleans Levee District -- responsible for most flood control in the city and armed with a $40 million annual budget and nearly 300 employees -- had branched out over the years to build parks, marinas, a cash-strapped airport and a dock it leased to a casino gambling boat. Critics and some former board members say the board had lost sight of its original mission."

Again, the responsibility for protecting New Orleans from flood damage lies with the local city government. If $40 million dollars and 300 employees is not enough, go "public" and seek help. Fact is that this board is a little fiefdom and they spend money for landscaping near select business and houses owned by the cities "influential" people. There have been parks built and named after board members for their legacy building. Parks that had nothing to do with protecting the city from floods. This is new Orleans "business as usual".

The levees that failed were built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1965 but used topographic maps from 1929. Land under New Orleans is basically aluvial mud. The levees as built were 3-4 feet lower than they should have been due to subsidence. One might just hope that the Orleans Levee Board would have at least one engineer on staff and that somebody might notice the problem in 40 years! I'm sure the US Geological Survey coud have sent a crew and told the board's directors the actual hight of the levees to 2 tenthousands of an inch. If none of the 300 employees knows what "subidence" means then there are real problems.