AP Asks: After Gustav, Is New Orleans Worth It?

The AP asks the rather provocative question of, after hurricane Gustav, whether 'New Orleans is worth it?':

Those who love New Orleans say Hurricane Gustav is proof that the billions of dollars spent to protect the city and bring it back to life after the devastating 2005 storm season was worth it.

But what if Gustav had been stronger, a category 4 instead of a 2, and hit the city directly instead of 70 miles to the west? Would it be worth the cost to rebuild New Orleans again if the storm caused widespread destruction as Katrina did?

"That's a question that was there before and after (Hurricane) Katrina, and I think is going to come to the forefront again," said Don Powell, who oversaw the Bush administration's effort to rebuild the Gulf Coast in 2005.

"There's a lot of reasons to continue," Powell said Monday, his voice trailing off. "That's a debate we will continue to have."

Read HuffPost's Hurricane Gustav BigNews Page.