Work in progress

Most debris is long gone. New Orleans is now surrounded by a $15 billion system of levees and flood walls designed to protect the city against the conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina, which put 80 percent of it under water. Some new housing sprouts amid the barren lots of devastated neighborhoods in towns all along Katrina’s path.

There remains no telling how long it might take for the region to fully recover from the economic, cultural and psychological damage wrought not just by the storm and its floods, but by the dismal governmental response.

Whether governments at all levels have learned from the Katrina disaster will be known for certain, unfortunately, only by their responses to another major disaster. But federal advanced planning certainly has improved, and officials at all levels know the need for communication and cooperation.

And there are long-term issues yet to be resolved. Flood protection lies not just with new man-made barriers, but with restoration of natural barriers that have been eliminated to facilitate industry and shipping in the region. The recent gulf oil disaster further highlighted the need to restore those barrier islands, marshes and swamps.

The scope of the Katrina disaster ensured that there would be no instantaneous recovery. Five years out, the results remain mixed.