Mardi Gras and Rebuilding New Orleans

Today is Fat Tuesday, or more commonly called "Mardi Gras". New Orleans has become the king of Mardi Gras celebrations in this world with millions of people visiting the city during this annual event. Food, parades, and the ever popular beads being handed-out, especially to the females who choose to expose themselves in public.
I just heard on tv that New Orleans spends about $2-3 Million on Mardi Gras every year, but in the past the city has made almost $1 Billion in return for its $2-3 Million investment! This year, the city is anticipating revenue of $250 Million, still not a bad return for a city that is recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
This brings me to a question that has been baffling me since Katrina first hit the city in August: should the government spend billions on rebuilding New Orleans when there is a distinct possibility that the city is going to be destroyed again?
For those of you who are not aware, the city is below sea level. The easiest way to describe how the city sits now is that it is in a bowl. The levees that we heard so much about during the hurricane were built to help relieve the city of any possible flooding that could occur. Imagine if you would sitting in a valley and watching a wall of water come tumbling over a hill on top of you. That is what happened to New Orleans and will happen again someday.
So should we spend all this time, money, etc. on rebuilding a city that is not architecturally designed to survive nasty storms when they come through? Yes, it is true that New Orleans has been hit before by hurricanes and has survived. But who is to say that another one isn't going to hit sometime soon, perhaps during the next hurricane season?!
I REALLY feel for all of the people that live in that area as well as for Mississippi and parts of Arkansas. I can only imagine what it would be like to see your house, pets, etc all washed-up and being left with nothing but the clothes on your back. Many people have not returned and said they will not return to those parts because they fear that it will happen again. These same people have spent years, perhaps their lifetimes, in this area and now can not go back to the places they call home.
At the same time, I think before we even begin spending tax money on rebuilding, I feel that we need to come up with a solution to the flooding problems. We need to take money and give the people of this area temporary housing. At the same time, we need to hire engineers to put their heads together and design some feat of mankind that will prevent the problems that destroyed this area from happening again. Once the problem has been addressed and we have not put a band-aid on a gashing cut, then we can focus our energies on rebuilding.
My prayers go out to all of our victims...may our leaders inspire these people and use their wisdom to bring prosperity back to this place of fun and memories.