The speed at which existing pumps are reactivated and additional pumping capacity is added will determine how rapidly the flood waters are removed.

The economic and insurance consequences of the 2005 Great New Orleans Flood will depend highly on how quickly authorities can respond to the event, ... The speed at which existing pumps are reactivated and additional pumping capacity is added will determine how rapidly the flood waters are removed. But this is only the first step in restoring services to flooded areas of the city.

The economic and insurance consequences of the 2005 Great New Orleans Flood will depend highly on how quickly authorities can respond to the event.

The longer these flood waters sit there and toxic deposits build up that need to be cleaned up ... the longer the recovery line.

Without benchmarks, authorities have little experience to inform them of the levels of contamination to expect once the waters recede, or how long it will take before the region can be inhabited again,

There are groundwater contamination issues that potentially could affect public water supplies over a large area.