Walter S. Maestri III has been the director of emergency management for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....

—which contains several suburbs of New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

—since 1996. After taking the position, Maestri became one of many academics and officials that promoted the idea that much of the region could become an uninhabitable floodscape following a major hurricane.

In a 2002 interview for NOW with Bill Moyers and American RadioWorks, Maestri discussed a possible worst-case scenario

Worst-case scenario

Worst-case scenario is a situation where everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong.It may also refer to:* Worst Case Scenario , by dEUS* "Worst Case Scenario" , by The Hoosiers* Worst Case Scenario...

:

"A couple of days ago we actually had an exercise where we brought a fictitious Category Five hurricane [...] into the metropolitan area. Well, when the exercise was completed it was evident that we were going to lose a lot of people. We changed the name of the storm from Delaney to K-Y-A-G-B—kiss your ass goodbye—because anybody who was here as that Category Five storm came across was gone."

Maestri obtained a Ph.D.

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from the College of Education and Psychology at The University of Southern Mississippi

The University of Southern Mississippi

The University of Southern Mississippi, informally known as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated north of Gulfport, Mississippi and northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana...

. From 1970 to 1985, he held several academic jobs: President of Holy Cross College

Holy Cross College

Holy Cross College may refer to:*Holy Cross College , Bangladesh*Holy Cross College , in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States*Holy Cross College , Western Province, Sri Lanka*Holy Cross College...

, where he had earlier served as Professor of Sociology, and Dean of Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...

. Since that time, Maestri has worked in various local government positions.

He is now the director of emergency management for Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Plaquemines Parish is the parish with the most combined land and water area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Pointe à la Hache...