New Orleans Levee Costs Leap

[LSU2001]

Two months before a new hurricane season, the Bush administration says there may not be enough funds to fully protect Katrina-devastated New Orleans.

The federal government's estimated cost of rebuilding the city levees to federal standards has almost tripled to $10 billon, The Washington Post reported.

With such a spending surge, Donald E. Powell, the administration's rebuilding coordinator, said some areas may be left without the protection of levees strong enough to meet requirements of the national flood insurance program.

full story here

http://tinyurl.com/rlux6

[sunny]

Yeah, they are only 6 BILLION short

[gtalum]

I would love to comment, but it would be political.

[GalvestonDuck]

I would love to comment, but it would be political.

Smart move.

[LSU2001]

I did not mean to make any political statement. My goal was to show people that the levees wont be ready to protect NOLA before Hurricane Season 2006. It makes me wonder about the thousands of FEMA trailers that are now in the area and if they going to get flooded.
TIm

[MGC]

I wonder if there will be adaquate potection for these people come hurricanes season. All we need is a freak early season hurricane and again this area will be flooded bad.....MGC

[DanKellFla]

What's the difference between a Mechanical Engineer and a Civil?
A Mechanical builds eapons and a Civil builds targets.
The eventual flood control system will be very complex. (duh) Right now, the best that can be done is to figure out the best questions. Once those are found, then a reasonable prediction of what the answer is will be possible. It will take years to figure out just what is needed, and predicting the cost is nearly impossible.

I think it will be a perpetual project of improvement and maintenence. And, I feel that it is worth it. Otherwise, NO will disappear or the Mississippi River will have to move someplace else. I find both of those options unaceptable.

[TSmith274]

Honestly, this is ridiculous. How much incompetence do we have running rampant in the federal government? I just wish they'd give us our oil and gas revenues and go away. We can handle this mess ourselves. It's gotten to the point that the federal goverment is doing more harm than good.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Honestly, this is ridiculous. How much incompetence do we have running rampant in the federal government? I just wish they'd give us our oil and gas revenues and go away. We can handle this mess ourselves. It's gotten to the point that the federal goverment is doing more harm than good.

EXACTLY!

A2K

[zoeyann]

I am not surprised by this at all. All of Southeast Louisiana is virtually unprotected, it was bad before but this is unimaginable. They are only building Orleans up to pre-Katrina levels, and they are repairing what was broken, but what about those spots that did not go last year it does not mean they won't go next time. The land has sunk and everything with it, unless they actually drive those walls into bedrock and make them higher I am afraid it will just happen again, and with money trouble I just don't see it happening. i know that they are putting a lock in, but I have a lock and Rita put a foot of water in my house that is already 2 foot off the ground. (For those who don't know I am alot closer to New Orleans than the Texas/louisana boarder) so my faith in lock protection is quite shaken, they may help, but just not as much as I was always taught to beleive. In my area they still have not finished repairs on the dirt drainage levee that protects my house (the Chauvin levee it had 32 breaks) There is just not enough time for the dirt to compress and vegetation to grow to make it of any consquence this season. People around here were shocked that places that have never flooded took on water, but the land has eroded, sunk, and the barrier islands are now gone. The bayou areas are now the first line of defense and we are pretty much defenseless. I am afraid for Houma now because they were not as seriously affected by Rita I fear they believe they are safe. As for as the plight of poor plaquimines, I don't even need to say they are prolly in the worst position.

I am sorry for the long post guys, and I am sure most of you know this already. But I needed to vent. I just fear for this area I love so much. These bayou areas and the city of New Orleans these are not just home to me but an irreplaceable piece of history, hertiage and beauty. It could just be the events of last year or maybe I have just awakened to the truth of the situation, but sometimes I cry because it seems like the land beneth my feet is sliding off into the gulf, and either noone can or will stop it.

[edenisleswx]

Zoeyann,

I feel the same way you do. They have waited so long to do something about the problem, that i'm not sure there is much that CAN be done. Hopefully this season will be kind to us and let us begin to heal.

[LAwxrgal]

Honestly I'm wondering about complacency in my area and other places. People don't realize that we're not really protected from storm surge. I have family members (from near Baton Rouge) who DIDN'T leave from Katrina and don't plan to leave for the next storm either because they didn't receive much damage. We just completed VERY EXPENSIVE repairs to our house, and am afraid we'll have to go through this all over again or move.

Anyone else here sick of hurricanes? Phew.

[skysummit]

I am!!!!! It sucks that it's almost here again.

[BayouVenteux]

Honestly I'm wondering about complacency in my area and other places. People don't realize that we're not really protected from storm surge. I have family members (from near Baton Rouge) who DIDN'T leave from Katrina and don't plan to leave for the next storm either because they didn't receive much damage. We just completed VERY EXPENSIVE repairs to our house, and am afraid we'll have to go through this all over again or move.

Anyone else here sick of hurricanes? Phew.

The BR metro area did feel light-to-moderate tropical storm force winds with Katrina, but didn't experience the conditions you did to the south and -- especially -- east of the metro area.

Baton Rouge has experienced the fringe effects of several hurricanes making landfall in South Louisiana over the last 40 years, but actually hasn't been directly exposed to sustained hurricane-force winds since Betsy in '65.

Worth noting is the fact that in 1965, there really was no "metro" in Baton Rouge. The areas that experienced the strongest winds (estimated by some to have been sustained in the 90-100 mph range with some gusts +100) were the lightly populated rural areas of East Baton Rouge Parish to the south of the city, which in those days ended around the Essen Lane area. Those former cow pastures and woodlands are now strip malls and chi-chi subdivisions where "McMansions" have been tossed up with wreckless code-skirting abandon in the last 15-20 years. In fact, they now spread well into the top 1/3 of Ascension Parish to the southeast of BR.

Long story short: not if, but when the major storm that matches Betsy's strength finally makes a DIRECT house call on the area, the damage/dollar impact -- though by no means catastrophic -- will be exponentially greater than in '65.

But...people around the area -- many of them too young to vividly remember Betsy, if at all -- generally seem to believe that Baton Rouge is immune to those kinds of conditions, whether due to the perception that it's a safe distance inland or simply because it's lucky. As for the distance concept, ask anyone in Hattiesburg, MS or Jasper, TX if hurricane winds are worth worrying about. As for luck? Well, the luck ran out to our east with Katrina. The luck ran out to our west with Rita.

How long can it roll on?

[ido]

They are only building Orleans up to pre-Katrina levels, and they are repairing what was broken, but what about those spots that did not go last year it does not mean they won't go next time.

That's frankly what concerns me.

All the focus on the breaches.....what about the rest of the levees? Are any other spots just a speck of sand away from collapsing? Has it been checked out and cleared?

Adn what about the Mississippi River levees? Are they ok? They protect the only area that didn't flood.

[skysummit]

Also, don't forget about the network of levees south of New Orleans. All of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes are surrounded by levees. Little ole' Hurricane Juan was able to break levees down here which put thousands of homes underwater...and that was barely 74mph in which most of the wind didn't even make it inland. Hurricane Rita hit near the Texas border and was also able to break levees in Terrebonne Parish which put thousands of homes underwater. The only reason why we didn't feel affects from water from Katrina was because we had a northerly wind. Those other two storms gave us tropical storm force winds at most from the south and were able to top and break levees. What will happen in real hurricane conditions?

.....answer.....that's when Mandeville will be the "new gulf coast".

[mf_dolphin]

Honestly, this is ridiculous. How much incompetence do we have running rampant in the federal government? I just wish they'd give us our oil and gas revenues and go away. We can handle this mess ourselves. It's gotten to the point that the federal goverment is doing more harm than good.

While I understand the frustration, one of the problems that led up to this situation is that monies that were given to the state/local governments for levee maintenance were diverted. Louisiana has a well earned reputation for political corruption so I'm not sure the "we can handle this ourselves" is accurate. Governmental incompetence is hardly restricted to any one branch.....

[BayouVenteux]

Honestly, this is ridiculous. How much incompetence do we have running rampant in the federal government? I just wish they'd give us our oil and gas revenues and go away. We can handle this mess ourselves. It's gotten to the point that the federal goverment is doing more harm than good.

While I understand the frustration, one of the problems that led up to this situation is that monies that were given to the state/local governments for levee maintenance were diverted.

We CAN'T handle this mess ourselves. mf_dolphin nailed it with regard to the fact that our state and local leaders -- and our laissez faire attitudes toward their chronic, multi-generational habits of political patronage -- are to blame for what happened as much as the Corp of Engineers are.

After Betsy came 40 years of diverted funds for pet projects (some of very questionable public benefit). 40 years of political appointments of unqualified friends and relatives into positions of responsibility for the management of the levee systems. 40 years of being lucky this didn't happen a heck of a lot sooner.

Let's swallow our misguided pride Louisiana. Painful and prolonged as this ordeal will be, it's obvious that the Federal government is going to have to hold our hand.

[SouthFloridawx]

I can think of some places that we can cut in spending so that we would be able to have the funds necessary to do this. I don't however think this would be the best place for me to comment on those places.