I'm from Louisiana, and have spent a good bit of time in New Orleans. I can tell you one thing, the majority of the 'common folk' don't think much at all about the potential risk of hurricanes and flooding. Especially when they pass year after year, without much damage. People get very comfortable, very easily. Plus, as you see in the news, 3/4 of that area is poor, and are more worried about putting food on the table and paying rent, than whether the levee's will hold.

This is a state that reelected a Govenor (Edwin Edwards), who was a convicted felon, launderer, and mobster (basically). But Edwards brought big money to Louisiana from riverboat gambling and such. These are the priorities.... not investing, and dumping a s**tload of money into protection against some unseen threat. Louisiana is not the most 'progressive' state in the union.

And, for most of the people living in the worst spots.... the people who actually live on the bayou, in houseboats, fishing for a living.... moving is not an option. Those people have called that land home for generation after generation, and their whole way of life is centered around the land. The majority would rather take their chances than uproot.