LA levee plan leaves some helpless

State and federal plans for a massive hurricane protection bulwark for Louisiana would sacrifice dozens of coastal communities, some with thousands of residents, to the next Katrina-sized hurricane. The reason: Protecting them would cost too much.

"We believe that it's probably not possible to provide adequate protection that people should be living down there," says Randy Hanchey of the state's Department of Natural Resources, which drafted one of the plans. Even so, the state has not encouraged residents to move from those areas.


The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ordered by Congress last year to design its own set of storm defenses, reached a similar conclusion, project manager Tim Axtman says. "The reality is, the cost of protection doesn't equate to what's there," he says.


If state and federal recommendations are adopted, places such as Venice, a riverbank town of about 2,000 people south of New Orleans, will be left with hurricane protections comparable to the levees they had before Hurricane Katrina swamped them. Venice was devastated by Katrina, a Category 3 storm that came ashore with winds of 127 mph. In most places, existing barriers could not defend against a similar strike today, says Andrew MacInnes, who manages coastal issues in Plaquemines Parish.


The state and federal plans are due to be turned over to lawmakers this year. Together, they will recommend stringing hundreds of miles of fortified levees across the Louisiana coast and restoring or protecting vast stretches of fast-disappearing coastal wetlands, creating defenses around New Orleans and other populated areas that could withstand a storm more powerful than Katrina.

Final costs haven't been tallied, but Hanchey and Axtman each say the work will easily top $30 billion.

from USA Today