User:Sammysterns/2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans

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Following the damages of Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures, changes to be made in order to prepare for any future disasters. This causes the city to take steps to obtain new system of levees that would protect the city from future damage; a system that would cost 14.5 billion dollars. With the recent hit of Hurricane Ida, the new levees were to put the test.

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The strength of Hurricane Ida forced a considerable amount of water towards New Orleans, similar to what happened in New Orleans. However, thanks to the new levee systems, damages that occurred during the previous hurricane were minimized. Concerns were expressed about future uses of the system. Despite the overall success during the newest storm, the effectiveness of the levee system during future storms might not be up to par. Realizing that there needed to be more updates and changes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $3.2 billion from Congress in fall 2021, in addition to the already $14.5 billion system. This was to ensure that they could continue to provide their 100-year level of hurricane production through 2073. State and local officials say that the 100-year protection is not good enough in the era of global warming, however, the changes that have already been made are improving flood protection and the levee system will continue to be upgraded as necessary when they fail to meet standards.