Corps issues maps of rainfall's impact

If the kind of tropical rain produced by Hurricane Katrina were to occur this summer, and if flood gates were closed against a storm surge in Lake Pontchartrain, a vast area of New Orleans and East Jefferson could get anywhere from a few inches to several feet of water, according to computer-generated maps released Wednesday by the Army Corps of Engineers.

That would be enough to swamp some vehicles and invade homes in lower-lying areas, though corps officials have said history shows the chances are slim that a storm would produce enough surge this hurricane season to warrant closing flood gates at the 17th Street, London and Orleans Avenue canals. Based on storms from the past 46 years, the gates would have been closed only three times, and only one of those hurricanes -- Katrina -- produced heavy rain.

from the Times Picayune