though I did have a braino on typing the storm instead of Taipei.
You start of with a comment about the Netherlands and being below sea level. I ask if they have to cope with hurricanes and you come back with a city in another country that, while it deals with typhoons(hurricanes by another name), is 9 meters above sea level. Just like here in Houston, Taipei will experience flooding during the actual storm; but, after the storm has blown over, all the water nicely drains away.
My point is that New Orleans has to deal with both problems. Building to handle both is obviously going to cost more than just one or the other.
Combine the cost of building to handle both, plus the future costs of dealing with a city that sinking by 3 feet every century(something I don't thing Netherland or Taipei is doing), it's not unreasonable to ask "is it worth it" or "should we rebuild elsewhere".
The question has been asked before in response to flooding in Missouri. They came up with the [link|http://www.sema.state.mo.us/buyout.htm|Missouri Community Buyout Program] to get people to rebuild away from flood prone areas.
Edit - punctuation