Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans of NOPD officers. Rebecca Solnit, writing in "The Nation", reported that “Several weeks after Hurricane Katrina, community organizer and former Black Panther Malik Rahim had told Amy Goodman on her nationally syndicated program DemocracyNow!, "During the aftermath, directly after the flooding, in New Orleans hunting season began on young African American men. In Algiers, I believe, approximately around 18 African American males were killed. No one really knows [s] what's the overall count." These investigations led to at least one indictment by the Department of Justice. Civil disturbances in post-Hurricane Katrina were consistent with all existing research on disaster sociology,
Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans Wetlands of Louisiana. The weight of large buildings and infrastructure and the leaching of water, oil and gas from beneath the surface across the region have also contributed to the problem. Following the great floods of 1927, the Mississippi River was surrounded by a series of levees meant to protect the city from such floods. In 1965, New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Betsy, which caused tremendous flooding in the New Orleans area. The federal government began a levee-building program to protect New Orleans from a Category 3 hurricane (the same strength as Betsy). These series of levees were completed