The levees that have failed and those that will.

The levees that are too short, too uneven, sinking, tilted. The sheet piling that's too short

The waterways that funnel storm surge and open water into the city

The Corps of Engineers that designed and defended the levees and waterways

The construction contractors and engineering firms who participated in construction

The levee boards that inspect the levees

The governors who appoint cronies to the levee boards

The Sewerage and Water board that doesn't recognize water seeping through the levees as something the levee boards or the Corps ought to hear about.

The vegetation that grows too close to the levees and falls over when the wind blows.

The nutrias that burrow into the levees

The land itself that is too unstable, sinking and nasty. (The "Bricks on Jello" theory.)

The racists who dynamite the levees (whether they exist or not)

The crackpot conspiracy theorists who divert our attention from the sublime to the absurd

The people who live stupidly in the shadows of the levees.

The authorities and insurers who encourage development in the wetlands and buffer zones

The dredging that deepens the canals below the level of the sheet piling and removes the clay that seals the bottom.

The wetlands that receded.