New Orleans fixes pale in comparison

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $19.5 billion plan to protect the city from storms and other possible consequences from global warming would dwarf the $12 billion that the Army Corps of Engineers has spent so far to improve the New Orleans area’s floodwalls, gates and levees since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Bloomberg said the city and federal money already allocated for Superstorm Sandy relief would provide $10 billion for project, and the city believes it could get at least an additional $5 billion in federal money. City officials said other financing options include a small surcharge on homeowners’ insurance.