To the editor:

I have to share my reaction to Matt Tait’s Aug. 26 story about a Kansas football player recalling Hurricane Katrina.

The story is about a young man from New Orleans. He faced a great deal of adversity and uncertainty as he was growing up, and more tough times in 2005. He persevered, however, and his story has a happy ending, much like the ending of the story about my hometown, New Orleans.

The only inaccuracy — and it’s a glaring one — is in the very first paragraph, which references a “Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.” Anyone who saw news coverage of New Orleans right after the 2005 hurricane knows that the damage caused by the storm was minimal at best. My city was ravaged by the flooding that occurred when our levee protection system failed. It’s important for people all over the country to know the facts because New Orleans isn’t the only city with a flood protection system engineered by the US Army Corps of Engineers. In fact, more than half the United States population lives in counties protected by levees.

We can only make things better when we know the truth and recognize the real problem.

Linda Kocher,

New Orleans