The reconstruction of New Orleans refers to the rebuilding process endured by the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city on August 29, 2005. The storm caused levees to fail, releasing tens of billions of gallons of water. The levee failure contributed to extensive flooding in the New Orleans area and surrounding parishes. About 80% of all structures in Orleans Parish sustained water damage. Over 204,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, and more than 800,000 citizens displaced—the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Wind damage was less severe than predicted. The damage that took place that needed to be repaired cost about $125 billion.
Reconstruction was hindered by bureaucratic problems and funding issues with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Relief agencies provided supplemental relief. By mid-June 2006, the city was again hosting conventions and promoting tourism.
Reconstruction
Residents were authorized to return to examine homes after the storm on Monday, September 5, 2005. In downtown New Orleans, several places were indeed producing power. Due to contaminated water and uninhabitable conditions, the Mayor ordered that all citizens be evacuated by September 6.
Levee and pump repairs
The Corps of Engineers repaired the 55 levee breaches including the Industrial Canal, 17th Street Canal, and London Avenue Canal since shortly after the storm, and continues to work on mitigating the risk posed by flooding.
Utilities
Testing found the flood waters were not unusual. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March 2006 declared all parts of New Orleans safe; no soil was contaminated and the air quality was pure.
Water and sewage services were gradually restored. The first section of the city to have a "boil water" order lifted was in the high ground of the old crescent along the River from the French Quarter to old Carrollton on October 6, 2005. The last section of the city to have such an order lifted (a section of the Lower 9th Ward) was on October 9, 2006.
Federal funding debate
Some people, including Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, questioned whether federal funds should pay to rebuild New Orleans. Others consider New Orleans's unique cultural heritage and history to be as important to the United States as, for instance, Venice is to Italy; they maintain that to not rebuild and reoccupy the city would be an immeasurable loss in that regard. The Times-Picayune ran a front-page editorial arguing for national help. It has been argued that since the US Army Corps of Engineers has had oversight over the levee system since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and most of the destruction in the city occurred due to the levee failure, the federal government should be responsible for rebuilding. Senator Mary Landrieu said that Louisiana's offshore petroleum leases generate billions of dollars in revenues for the federal government's general fund, more than would be needed to restore wetlands and upgrade levee/flood control for South Louisiana to withstand category 5 storms. She argued that the federal government should either earmark some of that income for such projects or allow Louisiana to keep a significant portion of that revenue so the state could take care of its needs itself.
Rebuilding, social justice, and community life
Frederic Schwartz, the architect selected by the citizens of New Orleans and the New Orleans City Planning Commission to replan one-third of the city for 40% of its population explained how the opportunity for rebuilding the city could be a chance to strengthen social justice and community life:
The planning of cities in the face of disaster (natural and political) must reach beyond the band-aid of short-term recovery. Disaster offers a unique opportunity to rethink the planning and politics of our metro-regional areas – it is a chance to redefine our cities and to reassert values of environmental care and social justice, of community building and especially of helping the poor with programs for quality, affordable, and sustainable housing.