Budget cuts delayed New Orleans flood control work:
“It’s clear that we didn’t do everything we could to safeguard ourselves from this hurricane or from a natural disaster such as Katrina but hopefully we will learn and be more prepared next time,” said Landrieu spokesman Brian Richardson. The levee defenses had been designed to withstand a milder Category Three hurricane and simply were overwhelmed by Hurricane Katrina, said senior project manager Al Naomi. “The design was not adequate to protect against a storm of this nature because we were not authorized to provide a Category Four or Five protection design,” he said. A study examining a possible upgrade is under way, he said.