Most of the destruction resulting from the events of August 29, 2005, when Katrina hit the city of New Orleans, was not just caused by the storm itself; but also due to the failure of the engineering of the levee system that protects the entire infrastructure of the city. Years of poor decision-making and avoidance of the levee system led to one of the most catastrophic events in U.S. history. During the course of our research, we identified three key actors responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of the levee system. These three organizations are the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the New Orleans Levee District, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation. The aftermath of the hurricane showed the organization's negligence in the design, construction and maintenance of protective walls. Subsequent independent research showed that more than 50 levees and food barriers failed during the hurricane's passage. This failure caused most of New Orleans and all of ST to flood. Bernardo Parish. The U.S. Corps of Engineers had been responsible for the construction of the levee system and flood walls since the 1936 flood law. Under the law, the Louisiana Department of Transportation is responsible for inspecting the overall design and engineering practices implemented in the construction of the system. Once finished, the levee systems were turned over to the New Orleans Levee District for regular maintenance and periodic inspections. The uncoordinated actions of these three agencies led to the complete failure of a system that was supposed to protect the people of New Orleans. It is clear that this catastrophic event did not happen by chance. The uncoordinated response of these... middle of paper... little cream puffs, and then. . . have a nice lunch somewhere or other. They have this parking thing or something. And this is precisely what inspections are for.'' Testimonies of this type are fundamental to understanding how the agency was managed.Works CitedU.S. Senate, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hurricane Katrina: Who's responsible for New Orleans' levees? Hearing, December 15, 2005 (S. Hrg 109-616). Washington: Government Printing Office, 2006.Van Heerden, Ivor Ll. “The Failure of the New Orleans Levee System Following Hurricane Katrina and the Path Forward.” Public Administration Review, 67.6 (2007): 24-35.Perks, Alan R. “The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why.” Canadian Consulting Engineer, 48.6 (2007): 10. Internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_levee_failures_in_Greater_New_Orleans