New Orleans Deputy Mayor Jeff Hebert in studio ahead of Melbourne resilience conference

New Orleans Deputy Mayor Jeff Hebert believes in resilience.

When Hurricane Katrina struck the city in 2005, it would go down as one of the deadliest natural disasters in US history.

But in the years since, Mr Hebert says the people of New Orleans have begun to rebuild. 

‘It’s one that defies logic, particularly in the New Orleans case, because you had almost 100 per cent of the city wiped out,’ he said.

‘In the past 11 years we have been able to rebuild the city to 86 per cent of the population.’

He joined John and Justin on 3AW Breakfast as the City of Melbourne prepares to host Chief Resilience Officers from the 100 Resilient Cities Networks, including South Africa and Indonesia.

Click PLAY to hear the full interview: