Since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working on the levees and floodwalls that are supposed to protect the city and its suburbs.
But if Gustav or another major storm hits New Orleans, the city is not completely protected and will not be until 2011. That is why residents are leaving until Gustav blows over.
The Corps is directing a $15 billion overhaul of the hurricane protection system — all 325 miles of it. When it is finished, the Crescent City will be better fortified against storm surges and flooding brought by hurricanes. It will be protected against a big storm and surge that have a 1-in-100 chance of hitting any given year.
But the project is not finished. The Corps says it has finished 48 construction contracts and has 47 in progress. Twenty percent of the project is complete, reports McClatchy Newspapers.
The agency said: "The New Orleans area now has the best flood protection in its history." But such fortifications are only as strong as the weakest link. There are gaps.
During Katrina, the nation learned that parts of New Orleans are below sea level and the city is shaped like a bowl, with levees acting as a rim. Some suburbs are within the levee system, some are not.
When Katrina struck three years ago, parts of the metro area were not protected by storm surge gates. Other parts were supposed to be protected by levees which failed.
Once the water surged over or through the protective barriers, the bowl began to fill. Since 2005, some levees have been repaired and others made higher. Gates have been placed on certain canals to block a storm surge.
But gates have not been installed on waterways in the eastern part of the city. Thus, a storm surge could still flood New Orleans and neighboring suburbs.
Richard Campanella, a Tulane University geographer, said it is frustrating to wait for the city to be fully protected. But, he told McClatchy: "This is an engineering challenge. It needs to be done right."
If only New Orleans can dodge the big storms until then — beginning with Gustav, which is expected to hit the Louisiana coast Tuesday.
