[stlnative]

It is the only way if the water is coming up 1" every 5 minutes and if it threatens the whole "bowl" they have no choice but to make a bigger break in the levee somewhere else. Trust me they did it many times in 1993 on the Mississippi River so that some areas would not get flooded while others areas did.

[burzum]

It's not draining from the Mississippi. Its draining from Lake Pontchartrain. If you break somewhere else, you will not slow down the flow of water from the lake. The Lake has several orders of magnitude more water than the floodable area of New Orleans.

[spunkets]

" they did it many times in 1993 on the Mississippi River so that some areas would not get flooded while others areas did."

They are surrounded by high water.