Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans under water for days, in many places for weeks. Many roads and buildings were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In a June 2006 report on the disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers admitted that faulty design specifications, incomplete sections, and substandard construction of levee segments, contributed to the damage done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. A report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers in June 2007 concluded that two-thirds of the flooding in the city could have been avoided if the levees had held. The failure of the Hurricane Protection Project of New Orleans has prompted many
Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans from the Mississippi River. In 1947, the Fort Lauderdale hurricane struck the New Orleans area. There was moderate wind damage. Flood prevention was largely successful in Orleans Parish, but there was severe flooding in the new East Jefferson suburbs near the Lake. Hurricane Flossy in 1956 resulted in flooding in parts of Eastern New Orleans. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 alerted a new generation to the threat posed by major hurricanes. As radar showed the storm heading for the city, a mandatory evacuation of Eastern New Orleans was declared. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal channeled storm surge into the metro area.