After Katrina devastated New Orleans, the federal government spent $14.5 billion on storm flooding engineering projects, starting with a giant surge barrier east of the city; a 130-mile ring built to hold out storm surges of approximately 30 feet.
Levees in New Orleans.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said a preliminary survey of levees across Louisiana showed they worked exactly as intended.
“We don’t believe there is a single levee anywhere now that actually breached or failed. There were a few smaller levees that were overtopped to a degree for a certain period of time,” Edwards said.
Suburbs like LaPlace however, where the levee system is not yet completed, suffered from severe flooding and rescue crews are still picking up residents from rooftops.