probably
Popular Science had an artical on it many months ago, iirc
edit:
April story on hurricanes focuses on.... you guessed it! New Orleans as at the greatest risk. Spooky.
edit2: PopSci curse: (speaking of cat-5 hurricanes...)
quote
Although hurricanes of this magnitude slamming directly into New Orleans are extremely rare?occurring perhaps every 500 to 1,000 years?should one come ashore, the resulting storm surge would swell Lake Pontchartrain (a brackish sea adjoining the Gulf of Mexico), overtop the levees, and submerge the city under up to 40 feet of water.
I'm vaguely remembering some science show on an additive that planes could drop into the clouds for hurricanes or tornados. Ummm... it may have also been to promote rain during drouts.... My memory is a bit fuzzy.