[Oliviaforever]

The Corps designed and built the levees that failed. Their designs were flawed and the construction did not meet standards.

There is no one else to blame.

[Charles Martel]

Don't forget that inconvenient NEPA lawsuit brought against the USACE by Save Our Wetlands, Inc. (et al) back in 1976-77. In short, the Corps of Engineers designed a number of improvements intended to prevent a storm surge from entering Lake Pontchartrain, but the greenies sued to prevent speckled trout from being disenfranchised, or something.

The lefties frown upon mention of this, because blaming an environmental group for *anything* reflects poorly on our political system. After all, trout are people, too.

Would the USACE plans from '76 have prevented all the flooding? Probably not, but it might've reduced it by two-thirds or so. Some blame definitely belongs to the plaintiffs who killed that project.