Flood protection plans lacking

Although the Army Corps of Engineers has spent more than $352 million to bring levees, floodwalls and drainage systems in the New Orleans area back to where they were before Hurricane Katrina hit a year ago, crucial improvements aimed at upgrading the system to the level long ago authorized by Congress are barely past the planning stages.

At a mid-August open house attended by more than 500 building contractors, corps managers Tom Podany and Rick Kendrick unveiled dozens of levee, levee wall and pump station projects that will begin construction during the next four years. The projects will eat up a considerable chunk of the $5.7 billion already appropriated by Congress for levee and pump repairs.
from The Times Picayune