How Hurricane Katrina influenced the design of hurricane protection and risk reduction systems and national approaches to risk and resilience: Part 1. Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans: A forensic assessment, risk and reliability analysis, and key lessons learned

A systems perspective is presented of what happened during and after Hurricane Katrina (2005) and the potential for reducing the likelihood of large losses in the future. This work was the basis for the rapid repair of the damage resulting from Katrina and ultimately the development and construction of a new risk reduction system for the region and a major shift in engineering guidance and practice related to public water infrastructure. The work was primarily accomplished through the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET) established by the Chief of Engineers, US Army Corps of Engineers, to conduct a comprehensive forensic analysis of what happened and why, and to an engineering risk and reliability assessment of the hurricane protection system in place when Katrina struck.