Here's Fast Company on the flooding:
There was a plan to prevent this sort of flooding: The Moses project, a multi-billion-dollar flood protection system with dozens of sea barriers meant to protect the city, has been under construction since the early aughts, but it’s been plagued with delays and corruption, including the 2014 arrest of the then-mayor and 30 others on embezzlement charges. As you’ve gathered, the Moses system is not yet operational.