RIP Aftermath

It seems to me that those oft used phrases "Hurricane Katrina and her tragic 'aftermath'" may have had their 60 seconds of fame. The words are the only retirees, as the credits are still written across the city.
I'm not sure if the close of 2008 also marked the end of Katrina's responsibility, or if upcoming 2009 Man vs. Army Corps of Engineers battles are to blame, but local and national media have a new moniker for our darkest of days, "levee failures" or "levee breaks."
President Obama used those words in his one-for-the-ages inauguration speech*, I've read it in the NYT, the Gambit Weekly, nola.com and The Washington Post. {Though your average New Orleanian, Chris Rose included, still references all time/date memory stamps as before or after The Storm.}
I wonder, what marks this change? Is it that fault has shifted? Are we changing our tune from poor pitiful me to the blame game? Do we need to put it in tangible terms so business feel more comfortable taking advantages of our tax incentives? Levees can be strengthened. Buildings can be raised.
But storms. Storms do not listen to reason.
I can't say I mind. I like the idea of taking responsibility for those things within our control. Following Obama's lead; pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. Take something off of Mother Nature's broad shoulders.
And I'm sure it's not that they've been reading every Levees.org Corps-bashing email in their inbox. Who has the time?


*For the record, how cool is it that a New Orleans event was given a mention in the most historic inaugural speech - maybe most historic, period - in US history?