06:31 PM CDT on Thursday, July 6, 2006

WWLTV.com

With LRA money expected to begin flowing into the metro area by summer’s end the question of when and if to rebuild in an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina evokes different responses, as was the case today when the Army Corps of Engineers updated residents on the condition of the New Orleans area levees.

CAROLYN KASTER / AP Photo

A breach in the 17th Street levee repaired by dark metal reinforcement on the New Orleans side, background, is seen from the west side of the Martairie Relief Outfall Canal on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006, in Metairie, La. Louisiana lawmakers have overhauled the state's arcane, patronage-laden system of managing its levee system, in hopes that Congress will agree to spend billions to toughen the flood-control system and prevent another catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Congressman Bill Jefferson threw out the question everyone has on their mind to the experts – should residents rebuild right now?

The answer depended on who was asked.

Colonel Richard Wagenaar of the Army Corps of Engineers deemed the areas of the city that were flooded by Katrina to be livable.

“I would build back now,” he said. “I think the protection system that is in place now – especially along the canals to protect against surge – is better than it was pre-Katrina.”

But Wagenaar’s optimism wasn’t shared by Dr. Gordon Boutwell of the American Society of Civil Engineers nor LSU Hurricane Expert Ivor Van Heerden.

Boutwell emphasized the inability to get insurance and thus mortgages, while Van Heerden talked about the recent pattern of increase hurricane activity.

“We need to recognize that we are headed into what experts tell us is another very active season,” he said. “So, at this time I would not build.”

The Corps’ findings on the levees and floodwalls, some of which were released Thursday, seem to also show conflicting information. The Corps said 75 percent of the levees protecting the metro area are too low and that 95 percent of the floodwalls need to be raised.

Fifty-five percent of the floodwalls also had some stability issues, though that is supposed to be mitigated by the new floodgates that will prevent surge.

Wagenaar said that many of the deficiencies in the levees come as the standards for a 100-year flood event have been lowered, making Hurricane Katrina-like rain events more likely in the future.