You lucked out. If Ivan had turned a few degrees less to the North while off of Yucatan, it would have indeed struck somewhere just west of Southwest Pass. NO would have had the storm surge that they had at Pensacola hit Ponchartrain. That levee, according to the Corps of Engineers site, is marginal for a Cat 3 and probably no good for a Cat 4. It is only a matter of time for NO - "they always turn" is a complete fiction. Unless someone gets really serious about building a truly storm worthy levee system around the entire Metro, and, surge control gates on the major Mississipi distributaries and other nearby passes, one of these days there will be a surge that will top the levees. I have witnessed this on a much smaller scale, and can easily imagine what might happen.
You hit my pet peeve- and that of half of New Orleans.
We pay MILLIONS to the Levee Board to protect the city, only to hear that the levees are useless when needed. They might, in fact, hurt more than help! So why bother, really?
Still- with doom facing us every year the powers that be INSIST that we need more business to relocate here, approve more building in a 'doomed' area, and in fact want another domed stadium( which will also be flooded!)
And they wonder why people are leaving the city in droves and no industry wants to relocate here?
What's the point? Why not just evacuate the city at the beginning of each hurricane season and be done with it.
And I STILL want someone to explain to me how we are in MORE danger with levees and technology than my ancestors were in the 1800's here. My father didn't see 30 feet of water in the 20's, nor did I when Betsy hit the city in '69.
If they really believe New Orleans is doomed, why not start doing some of the things you suggested? Like damming up Lake Borgne to stop the surge from getting into Pontchatrain?
That or stop all building here and suggest people only treat it as vacation property.