<P> On August 29 , 2005 , there were over 50 failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans , Louisiana , and its suburbs following passage of Hurricane Katrina and landfall in Mississippi . The levee and flood wall failures caused flooding in 80 % of New Orleans and all of St. Bernard Parish . Tens of billions of gallons of water spilled into vast areas of New Orleans , flooding over 100,000 homes and businesses . Responsibility for the design and construction of the levee system belongs to the United States Army Corps of Engineers ; the responsibility of maintenance belongs to the local levee boards . The Corps hands components of the system over to the local levee boards upon completion . When Katrina struck in 2005 , the project was between 60 -- 90 % complete . Four major investigations were conducted by civil engineers and other experts in an attempt to identify the underlying reasons for the failure of the federal flood protection system . All concur that the primary cause of the flooding was inadequate design and construction by the Corps of Engineers . </P>
<P> On August 29 , 2005 , there were over 50 failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans , Louisiana , and its suburbs following passage of Hurricane Katrina and landfall in Mississippi . The levee and flood wall failures caused flooding in 80 % of New Orleans and all of St. Bernard Parish . Tens of billions of gallons of water spilled into vast areas of New Orleans , flooding over 100,000 homes and businesses . Responsibility for the design and construction of the levee system belongs to the United States Army Corps of Engineers ; the responsibility of maintenance belongs to the local levee boards . The Corps hands components of the system over to the local levee boards upon completion . When Katrina struck in 2005 , the project was between 60 -- 90 % complete . Four major investigations were conducted by civil engineers and other experts in an attempt to identify the underlying reasons for the failure of the federal flood protection system . All concur that the primary cause of the flooding was inadequate design and construction by the Corps of Engineers . </P>
who is responsible for maintaining the levees in new orleans
who is responsible for maintaining the levees in new orleans
the local levee boards
the local levee boards