[StBernard] Update From George Lopez, Chairman of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District

[Westley Annis]

Update From George Lopez, Chairman of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District 

October 21, 2005 


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Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - a brief summary:

In the latter part of the last week in August, weather forecasters began
predicting Hurricane Katrina, a major Category 4/5 storm, was likely to make
landfall somewhere along the Southeast Louisiana Coast.  On the weekend
before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, our crews inspected the Hurricane
Protection Levee along the MRGO.  We then began closing the floodgates in
Caernarvon, in Verret, on the Chalmette back levee near Pumping Station #1,
and along the Mississippi River Levee.  We moved our tractors and other
equipment not in use to higher ground and secured our office and shop
building and surrounding grounds.  On Sunday afternoon, employees were sent
to the Government Complex to man the EOC and maintain radio communication
with the work crews and pumping stations.  Additional pumpers were called in
to work at the pumping stations.

As the storm approached the coast on Sunday evening, work crews were
dispatched to the various pumping stations to assist with pumping operations
and trash removal.  The pumps were operated until the early morning hours of
Monday morning (Midnight to 1:00 am).  At that time, all personnel were
evacuated from the  pumping stations and sent to the shelters of last resort
at St. Bernard High School, Chalmette High School, and the Auditorium.

Between 8:00 am and 9:00 am Monday morning, calls began coming into the EOC
reporting rapidly rising water. By 11:00 am the water at the Government
Complex had risen to a level just below the second floor level.

Monday afternoon our Director and several employees left the Government
Complex and St. Bernard High School by boat to assist in rescue operations
and to check the Bayou Dupre Control Structure.  After an unsuccessful
attempt to reach the Structure Monday night, the crews spent the night in
the Violet Canal and proceeded to the structure at first light on Tuesday
morning.  Although the sector gates were still closed, the structure had
been severely damaged.  Around 7:00 am our crews began manually opening the
east sector gate.  The Campo Family assisted in this effort.  The gate was
fully opened by mid afternoon.

After opening the Bayou Dupre Structure, our crews were dispatched to the
various pumping stations to assess damages and to ready the stations for
pumping operations.  By Wednesday morning, Pumping Stations 1, 6, 7, and 8
were ready for operation.  Pump Stations 2, 3, and 5 had been severely
damaged by the storm and inundated by the flood waters.  Pumping Station 4
was determined to be repairable as soon as parts became available.

On the Thursday after the storm made landfall, our crews were dispatched to
the Bayou Bienvenue Control Structure to open the West side sector gate.
This structure also had experienced severe damage.  Because of the damage,
we had to open this structure using a pipe wrench.  It took about 8 hours
and more than a dozen men to open the west sector gate.

Pumping operations began in earnest on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005 after the
water level outside the back levee system connecting the various pumping
stations dropped below the water level inside the levees.  As pumping
operations began, our crews cut the Chalmette Back Levee just east of Paris
Rd. to let the water drain out as levels on the back side continued to drop.
The Corps of Engineers also assisted by letting contracts to cut the back
levee on either side of the Violet Canal and in Verret.  The Corps also had
a contractor cut the Caernarvon to Verret Levee near EBI.

All operating pumping station pumped continuously until water levels were
brought to normal.  Normal levels were  reached in Area 2 (Paris Rd to the
Violet Canal) on Friday, Sept. 9, and in Area 1 (Orleans Parish Line to
Paris Rd) on Saturday, Sept. 10.  The Orleans Pumping Station serving the
Lower 9th Ward was inoperable, therefore our Pumping Stations 1 and 6 pumped
out that area of Orleans Parish.

During and after pumping operations, the levee system was visually inspected
to assess damages.  It was found that large areas of the Hurricane Levee
along the MRGO had been destroyed (approx. 6 miles).  The back levees along
the 40 Arpent Canal, however, had suffered relatively minor damage.

Then we were told another storm (Hurricane Rita) had formed and was heading
for the Gulf.  Preparations were made for this approaching storm and
evacuation plans were established in case the storm began heading directly
toward Southeast Louisiana.  With the help of the Military and the Corps of
Engineers, around the clock operations were set in motion to close all the
cuts and make repairs to the back levee system since it was now our only
line of defense against high tides and storm surge.

As Hurricane Rita approached the Louisiana/Texas Coast, water behind the
back levees began to rise due to the persistent easterly winds generated by
the storm.  As the storm was making landfall more than 200 miles away, water
had risen to within inches of the top of our back levee system, but all
repairs held.  The same could not be said for the levee along the Industrial
Canal in the lower 9th ward.  In the morning hours of Friday, Sept.23, the
repairs made on that levee failed and water again flooded the lower 9th ward
and made its way into St. Bernard Parish.  Pumping Stations 1, 6, and 7 were
again pressed into service in an attempt to minimize the oncoming flood.
These Stations pumped for 5 days.  Flooding was restricted to the Arabi area
and a portion of Chalmette east to about Jackson Blvd.  Areas of St. Bernard
Parish within our levee system east of Jackson Blvd were not affected by the
flooding caused by Hurricane Rita.  Once again our Pumping Stations 1 and 6
were called upon to pump out the lower 9th ward of Orleans Parish.

Current Conditions:

The Corps of Engineers has contractors repairing the Hurricane Levee.
Repairs are scheduled for completion before June 1, 2006.  The Corps has
hired contractors to remove debris from our drainage canals and restore them
to proper working order.  A cooperative effort is also underway between the
Levee District, the Department of Transportation and Development, the
Military and the Corps of Engineers to make more permanent repairs to our
back levee system along the 40 Arpent Canal and raise those levees to at
least 10 feet.

We are still looking for assistance from FEMA to replace our equipment lost
in the storms and to repair and improve our infrastructure.

Many of our employees have worked very long hours under difficult conditions
to help in St. Bernard Parish's recovery from this unprecedented disaster.
Their actions give proof of their personal concern and unselfish commitment
to their community and their neighbors, and for that they should be
commended.