United Teachers of New Orleans the city of New Orleans. UTNO members, about to begin the school year, received their first and last two-week paycheck on September 1, 2005. With no tax revenue flowing into OPSB coffers, the school district cancelled further paychecks and all insurance for New Orleans education workers. Hurricane Katrina also left 100 of New Orleans' 128 school buildings heavily damaged. Reacting to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, on November 22, 2005, the Louisiana legislature passed Act 35 and took over the New Orleans public school system. Eleven of the 20 state representatives from Orleans Parish voted against the takeover plan.
Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans floodgate structures and raising existing levees. The report also suggested that the chances of a major Category 5 hurricane directly striking New Orleans was a one-in-500-year event. In 2001, the "Houston Chronicle" published a story which predicted that a severe hurricane striking New Orleans, "would strand 250,000 people or more, and probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city drowned under of water. Thousands of refugees could end up in Houston." In 2002, "The Times Picayune" published a feature covering various scenarios, including a Category 5 hurricane hitting the city from the south. The series also explored the