Database showing lower New Orleans levee heights incorrect, officials say; overtopping unlikely [View all]
JUL 11, 2019 - 8:57 AM
https://www.nola.com/news/hurricane/article_874b557e-a3e3-11e9-915d-b7288a72cc5b.html
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers are disputing data in a corps database that shows numerous sections of Mississippi River levee in New Orleans and points downriver fall short of the 20-foot height at which forecasters expect the river to crest Saturday. Ricky Boyett, a corps spokesman, said late Wednesday that the corps’ New Orleans District office show levee elevations in the Lower 9th Ward at “between 20 and 21 feet.” He added that the agency’s modeling “does not show overtopping of the levees in the 9th.”
The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reported earlier Wednesday that a corps database, housed on the corps’ website, showed levees are below 20 feet in numerous locations, including spots in Bywater, the Lower 9th Ward and Algiers, as well as much of St. Bernard Parish. The database shows levee heights of between 18 and 20 feet in those locations. The newspaper used that data after being told by the corps on Wednesday that the information in the database was reliable and up-to-date. Boyett has not explained the disconnect between his remarks and the information on the corps’ website.
John Monzon, regional director of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East, said on Thursday that he had gone out survey levees in Algiers after becoming concerned about some of the heights listed in the Corps' database. Those surveys showed the levees to be 25 feet high, putting them well above the projected river levels, he said.
The question could become moot: The National Weather Service on Thursday morning updated its forecast for the river, predicting the water will rise to a crest of 19 feet, a foot lower than earlier forecasts. If the storm surge from the system—expected to become Hurricane Barry over the next couple of days—does overtop the river levees in New Orleans, that would be the first such occurrence in the city’s modern history. While Boyett said corps officials don’t expect overtopping in the city at this point, he acknowledged some weak spots in the area’s defenses.
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