[schu]

Of course the issue was not the winds, except to the degree that it raised the lake water level. That combined with the surge, which was right up the entry to the lake from the Gulf, was what caused the levees to breech, and the rest is history.

[schu]

Another thought, but I do not have anything to support it. It could be that FEMA was reluctant to send the NG and troops into the city until they knew it was not going to become a new flood plain for the Mississippi river, there were some rumors about the river levees giving away. The last thing they needed was 20,000 more folks in the town.