Dear Editor, How did we ever survive the ‘good old days’?
January 16, 2007
AliceMae Bergeron
January 18, 2007Brigadier General Robert Crear came to Houma to escape from wintry weather. Little did he know absurd weather that is plaguing the country leaked into South Louisiana. The last time he visited was after an abnormal summer, which produced one of worst hurricane seasons recorded in U.S. history.
“I was also invited to come up to St. Paul (Minn.),” said Crear, who is in his third year as commander of the Mississippi Valley Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, speaking to a large group of Houma business leaders and professionals. “I guess Houma won by default.”
Crear spoke Tuesday during the South Central Industrial Association monthly member luncheon, spotlighting familiar topics such as hurricane protection and coastal restoration. The Corps partnered with the state to create the Louisiana Coastal and Protection and Restoration plan, implemented by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
Working around the clock, Crear said it was because of a quick assessment and new techniques that the Corps was able to patch-up broken levees to stop Rita’s surge from continuing into Terrebonne Parish right after the storm.
“Now we’re still at itnover 500 days and we continue working toward recovery… and being able to respond again (to another storm),” said Crear.
Congress authorized the Corps’ New Orleans District to implement a 24-month intensive research project to develop a comprehensive system of locks and levees for flood control, coastal restoration, and hurricane protection that is now known as the LACPR master plan.
The New Orleans District Commander Col. Richard Wagenaar, also in attendance at Tuesday’s luncheon, said a plan has been created and is in the process of revision before CPRA officials seek federal authorization to start construction.
The authority developed a map of new construction or reconstruction of levees and locks along the Gulf Coast, which Wagenaar said will incorporate a downsized version of the Morganza-to-the-Gulf project.
One leg of the Morganza plan, which includes 64 miles of levee at a price of $800 million, is currently being built, but Wagenaar said the entire system needs federal authorization and funding.
Initially, Morganza was a 72-mile project, but Wagenaar said with help of local levee authorities the Corps developed a variation of the system that will cut down on construction time and cost.
Wagenaar said U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu met with the Corps and local levee authorities, pledging to seek Congress’ authorization of the WRDA bill.
The Integrated Planning Team of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is now in the process of drafting the finalized plan after numerous community stakeholder meetings. Concerns and suggestions from the public given both at stakeholder meetingsnteamed with online commentsnwill be considered and possible incorporated into the project.
A finalized plan will be completed and submitted to the state legislature by the end of February.
