t has been a rough five years for New Orleans. On August 29, 2005, one of the worst catastrophes in American history flooded 80% of the city, destroyed more than 180,000 structures and killed some 1,400 people. (Official death toll figures still -- somehow -- vary by hundreds.) Just as the city was starting to regain some semblance of normalcy, the largest economic downturn in 79 years began, threatening to halt any progress that was made in the recovery. Then, a deepwater drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, initiating the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, putting tens of thousands of locals out of work and threatening to cover the city's shores with oil.

The above article is reprinted from the September 2010 on-line edition of Risk Management Magazine.