Agency felt New Orleans was safe for 200-300 years
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02564147.htm
from
JoeUser Forums
"The Army Corps of Engineers believed the New Orleans levee system would protect the city for 200 or 300 years, but it was not designed to guard against a storm as powerful as Hurricane Katrina that thoroughly overwhelmed it, the head of the agency said on Friday."