What happens to New Orleans is the business of New Orleans, not the rest of us. Franly, I have never liked that town. More welfare slum per square acre than anyplace I have ever seen in the US (I've never been to DC, but hear it is bad also). If they want levies so they can live below sea level, fine, let them pay for them, not the rest of us. Other places that are prone to natural disaster do receive some disaster relief but nothing like a government funded attempt to prevent those disasters. Tornado shelters, earthquake code building, etc, etc are funded by individuals not the government. Recovery in these areas are mostly done on insurance money, not federal aid.
After Katrina, I always thought the first step in rebuilding the area should of been blowing the levies and then telling the poeple to now build where there is dry land. Of course, since a Hurricane can be seen coming for days on end and is not a "suprise attack by Nature" like tornados, earthquakes, etc and the people were told ahead of time to evacuate, the state even had lots of unused busses it provided for evacutation, then I didn't really support the rescue efforts either. Those people made their choice, they should of had to live (or not) with that choice. Stupidity breeds stupidity, allowing stupid people to eliminate themselves from the gene pool is a good thing, the sooner the better.