Save lives of course.

After that it would be a market driven thing. After all, who says NOLA should be rebuilt unless there is enough private capital and the incentive to do so. Just because there has been a city there for hundreds of years does not mean a city should always be there. Leave it for the archeologists like Pompey

Loans yes, grants no. If you build it they will come but only if there is a reason to build it in the first place. My daughter's company employed a couple of hundred people in NOLA and they are uncertain whether it will be worth it to resume operation there in the future. By the time they are able to move back in it will be almost like a complete start-up operation.

I'm not a Libertarian and I don't necessarily subscribe to this but some of this thinking will be in the equation. The same thing is going on, as we speak, on the MS Gulf Coast related to the Casinos. Will they be built again under any circumstances? Will they now be allowed to build land based? MS is losing $500,000 per day in Casino revenue and it may or may not return.

NOLA was a major port. Will it be missed and since it obviously will, how much and at what cost can it be replaced.