I've wondered that a lot myself in the past two days. Seems like New Orleans' current location is the worst place for a metropolitan area. However I mentioned this to my dad last night on the phone and he said that the city has sunk quite a bit over the years and also in the 18th century it's very likely that the settlers of N.O. simply did not know they were below sea level. Thank God the city dodged the bullet this time, though it sounds like things will still be quite a mess down there. I hope that this storm leads to better evacuation procedures, shelters, and levee/pumping systems.
As a city enlarges, especially in places like NO,
the ground begins to sink from the weight of
new structures & populations due to more
homes being built.
That's what has been said about CA, too many
people and too much buiding, causing CA to
sink lower.
One would think with the passage of time,
city planners would figure out the "What
ifs" and built further north.