Water has sustained New Orleans and perpetually threatened it. City officials estimated that 80% of the town is under standing water.
"In 1718, French colonist Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville ignored his engineers' warnings about the hazards of flooding and mapped a settlement in a pinch of swampland between the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and a massive lake to the north... But when the rainfall brought by Katrina breached levees and overwhelmed the city's pumping stations, the catastrophic consequences of Bienville's miscalculation could no longer be ignored.
...The charming quirks of its geography like the practice of entombing the dead aboveground because high water tables make burial a short-term proposition may no longer seem so charming. The water, cherished by Bienville for its potential to open the region to commerce, has now all but strangled access. Bridges and causeways are shredded, and city streets are buried in debris."
Transportation (and related) professionals, may also be interested to see the magnitude of the damage on just this one interstate, I-10 in Louisiana.
Aerial video footage (no sound). (From WDSU.com, submitted by Linda LaSut.)
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: New Orleans' Tragic Paradox

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
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Washington State’s Parking Reform Law Could Unlock ‘Countless’ Acres for New Housing
A law that limits how much parking cities can require for residential amd commercial developments could lead to a construction boom.

Wildlife Rebounds After the Eaton Fire
Following the devastation of the Eaton Fire, the return of wildlife and the regrowth of native plants are offering powerful signs of resilience and renewal.

LA to Replace Inglewood Light Rail Project With Bus Shuttles
LA Metro says the change is in response to community engagement and that the new design will be ready before the 2028 Olympic Games.
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