Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina hit the south coast of the US on August 28th, 2005. The city of New Orleans was hit the hardest, and damages to the city cost more than $81 billion(www.hhs.gov/katrina). The storm caused major flooding which overwhelmed the levee system in the city. The issues that the hurricane created in the city are directly related to Civil Engineering because the levee failure meant people had to evacuate the city, and immense damage to New Orleans meant that huge rebuilding projects were/are needed. So poor or inadequate engineering caused damage to New Orleans and now engineers are being called on to rebuild the city.
Engineering was not the only failure though. The political response to the aftermath of Katrina was delayed and insufficient. Crime increased in the desolate city as looters took advantage of vacant homes. Hurricane Katrina braught a lot of suffering to a once vibrant city.