BELLE CHASSE, La. — Hurricane season is just around the corner but officials at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse aren't worried. Thursday, they ran the flood protection system at full capacity for an hour to inspect it ahead of June 1st.
"We are ready to go for hurricane season after today," Nicholas Cali, the regional director of the Flood Protection Authority West said Thursday.
The system includes sector gates, flood gates, a large pumping station, and more. Cali says all the different parts work together and are designed to protect the west bank of Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines parish should we get a hurricane.
"This specific gate prevents storm surge from intruding into the Harvey canal and Algiers canal which go deep into the heart of the West Bank. so if we were to have a failure on those canals if we were to have storm surge going into there we would have catastrophic flooding, so the purpose of this structure is to take that flood protection away from the heart of the populated areas, bring it out here and have secondary lines of protection closer to the populated areas," Cali said.
Officials say the system protects 250,000 residents and more than $1.8 billion in property value. That includes Chubbie's Fried Chicken in Algiers. Owner Juan Newell says a bad hurricane can be bad for business, so hearing the west closure complex is running smoothly gives him peace of mind.
"Knowing I can plan ahead into the near and distant future and not have to worry about things that are out of my control and I definitely appreciate the city and state for doing their part," Newell said.
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