New Orleans, LA – In the interest of public safety and to address the more immediate threat of riverine flooding, work on the 15-mile segment of Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) levees co-located with the Mississippi River Levees (MRL) between English Turn and Oakville has been temporarily suspended due to the increasing high river levels.
Because of construction restrictions during these high river levels, the Corps will not be able to construct these levees to meet hurricane surge requirements by 1 June.
Construction to raise the levees in this segment to meet HSDRRS requirements will resume once river stages have receded. The Corps expects to complete this work by the peak of hurricane season, as long as river stages reach acceptable levels to allow work to resume by early summer.
The HSDRRS infrastructure now in place throughout the remainder of the system is on-track to be able to defend against the effects of a 100-year storm by 1 June. The HSDRRS is stronger and more resilient than it has ever been, reducing the risk of flooding from hurricane storm surge to its lowest levels ever.
The Corps and its partners have raised and strengthened virtually all of the levees, floodwalls and surge barriers that form the 133-mile Greater New Orleans HSDRRS perimeter.
Construction of surge barriers at Lake Borgne, Seabrook, the New Orleans Outfall Canals and the West Closure Complex have pushed the line of protection outside of the city and removed about 68 miles of interior levees and floodwalls from exposure to storm surges.
Release no. 11-076