" New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen" wrote Scientific American in October 2001. "A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands."

When I read about what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, I remembered that story. It was a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the problem and what solutions would be needed.

So why didn't anybody listen?

The problem, it seems, was the $14 billion price tag back then.

Now, we have an estimated $30 billion in insurance costs. And, according to Guardian Unlimited, "no one knows how much it will cost to rebuild the streets, the highways and the bridges devastated by Hurricane Katrina. One thing for sure, however: It will cost more than any other post-disaster reconstruction effort in U.S. history."

And they still won't have spent any money on fixing the problem. That will be extra.

No one predicted the tsunami.

But what can you say when a government like that of the USA won't invest in protecting its own people from the inevitable?