Corps Outlines Plan to Protect Louisiana

The Army Corps of Engineers has outlined a preliminary plan to protect Louisiana from hurricanes and their storm surges that is likely to cost tens of billions of dollars.

The report, which the Corps delivered to Capitol Hill late Monday, did not include specific recommendations on how to proceed but envisions a patchwork of levees and natural barriers aimed at withstanding a range of storms.

In November, Congress instructed the Corps to write an "analysis and design" report within six months on how to protect Louisiana against storms as intense as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds above 155 mph. While an engineering appendix to the report includes an outline for levees that would stretch all across the state, project manager Al Naomi said in an interview yesterday that the agency has not decided where to construct levees.

from the Washington Post