Rebuilding the Gulf Coast Continues

Rebuilding the Gulf Coast, one playground at a time. And some New Orleans residents want the MR-GO gone. MR-GO, or the intracoastal waterway, is seen as one of the factors that enhanced the flooding during and after Katrina.

Barrier islands and shorelines have been forever altered. While that's part of the way nature works, people are used to things being the way they are.

And the quest to develop an assistance/bailout program for those property owners who lacked flood insurance is continuing apace.

And the Army Corps of Engineers is racing to meet a June 1 deadline to up armor 170 miles of levees. The levees would be reinforced with rock and concrete to improve their stability and ability to withstand storms (what's involved).

"If we can get this approved by the end of April, we can have the armoring in place in another three to four months," said Dan Hitchings, civilian director of the corps' Task Force Hope. "We think we can get this done in time."

The reason for the urgency is simple: The corps and its critics agree armoring could have dramatically reduced the destruction and death Katrina spread across the area.

Engineers say armoring is to levees what air bags are to seat belts: a little extra protection that can greatly improve survivability.

"You can build a Category 3 levee but get Category 4 or 5 survivability when you armor a levee," said David Rogers, a University Missouri-Rolla professor who is one of the nation's leading experts on levee and dam failures and a member of a National Science Foundation team investigating levee failures in the New Orleans area. "You may get overtopped by a larger storm than you designed for, but your chances of holding up are tremendously improved.

"And if your levee stands up when it's overtopped, you greatly increase your options."

I'm glad that this is getting done, but one has to really wonder why armoring the levees wasn't done sooner. The article notes that neither the fabric mats nor the gabion mats are a perfect solution and there are drawbacks for both.

Meanwhile communities along the Gulf Coast are racing to clear debris by June 1, which is the start of the 2006 hurricane season. If another storm hit in the areas affected by Katrina, much of the debris would end up causing significant damage to structures still standing or rebuilt since Katrina came ashore.

Folks are looking at the earlier flood hazard maps and realizing that they weren't updated as regularly as they should and didn't realistically assess risks.

Dale did not realize many properties near the beach were outside flood areas designated on the 1980s maps. Only property owners within the flood plain are required to carry flood insurance.

Under the National Flood Insurance Program, the maps are supposed to be reviewed every five years. Also, the maps are supposed to be updated at the request of state or local government, Gulfport attorney Joe Sam Owen has pointed out.

Owen found properties within 50 yards of the seawall that were not in a special flood-hazard area, including his wife's business, which Katrina destroyed.

Dale said map review is a responsibility his office shares with other local and state political subdivisions. He said he did not look over the old maps and as a layman would not have been able to read them.

Regularly updating flood hazard maps and making them easier for laypeople to read should be part and parcel of the rebuilding process. Greater awareness of the National Flood Insurance Program wouldn't hurt either (FloodSmart.gov).

Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.