Lessons From Katrina
Louisiana may have more federal flood-control infrastructure than any other state in the country. Yet, despite this extensive infrastructure, it will cost the federal government more than $100 billion to recover from Hurricane Katrina. It's not a coincidence that the nation's worst flood occurred here, despite this massive flood-control infrastructure. In fact, since the 1930s, the US has invested more than $120 billion on flood-control projects, yet damages from floods had more than tripled in real dollars even before Katrina struck.
Experience has shown that the areas behind levees serve as magnets for development. Under current law, developers may build behind levees without purchasing flood insurance or taking any precautions to make their structures more flood resistant. And when the levees fail, far more damage occurs. This is precisely what happened in New Orleans.
The problem isn't lack of funding, but lack of priorities. In fact, in the five years preceding Katrina, Louisiana received more money ($1.9 billion) for water projects than any other state in the country. Yet, the Corps did not spend this money to protect the city from flooding. Instead, the Corps spent money maintaining a little-used navigation channel, the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which greatly increased Katrina's impact. Rather than raising the height of the city's levees, the Louisiana delegation sought federal dollars for port projects that are justified only because they steal business from existing ports in Texas.
This same problem occurs on a national level, where the Corps has a $58 billion backlog of authorized projects, but does not have a system for prioritizing which projects get built first. Instead, the Corps constructs the projects that have the most political support.
This highly political, earmark-laden, authorization and funding process frequently leads to dangerously distorted analyses. This plainly happened in New Orleans, where scientists have now confirmed that many of the levee breaches occurred because of basic design flaws.
Take action:
Learn more about the Corps and Hurricane Katrina:
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"Katrina's Costly Wake: How America's most destructive hurricane exposed a dysfunctional politicized flood control process," a report detailing lessons for improving US flood-control policy
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"American Flood-Control Policy Inundates Taxpayers With Heavy Costs," a fact sheet for taxpayers
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More information on the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet
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"Money Flowed to Questionable Projects," a Washington Post article documenting the Corps' lack of priorities
Posted: 06-Jun-2006; Updated: 29-Sep-2009
