Dr. Lewis E. Link, Senior Research Engineer, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, and currently serving as Director, Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force.

What happened during Katrina was the result of decisions and actions taken over decades. Change, compromise and complacency all added up to added risk that was neither quantified nor communicated. The storm, the performance of the structures and the consequences of each are described along with the role of the Army Corps of Engineers in these activities.

This is part of a fall weekly lecture series focusing on the vulnerable Gulf coastal environment, and exploring the question of how the natural and built environments can coexist among the formidable forces of rising seas, coastal degradation, and the Mississippi River.