Local News
New plan won't protect St. Bernard, Lower Ninth or N.O. East
06:28 PM CST on Thursday, December 15, 2005
The Army Corps of Engineers said the plan for improved levees that is being pushed by President George Bush is a good one for the areas where levees breached but will do nothing to protect the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans East or St. Bernard Parish. WWL-TV Debris sits in front of a home near Slidell in the hard hit area of East St. Tammany.
“The authorized level for this project does not resist the Katrina storm in these areas,” said Don Hitchings of the Corps.
The plan calls for closing off the levees at the London Avenue, Orleans Avenue and 17th Street Canals by June 1, 2006.
In addition the levees will be built over with concrete and pumping stations would be positioned near Lake Pontchartrain within two years.
The plans are based on the standard of a true Category-3 and Congress used 100 miles per hour winds as their gauge for satisfactory flood protection in the short term.
The Corps has also been given two years to come up with a proposal for Category-5 protection.
A good piece of news for residents living near the levees is that the Corps said it doesn’t think it will need to expropriate land for the improvements under the current plan.
Previously, Corps engineers had thought they might need to take between 15 and 150 feet of land near the levees.
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