| Page 2 of 2 < |
Wait Ends On Rules For Katrina Rebuilding
Malcolm and Gena Olds's house in lower Plaquemines Parish was swept away by Hurricane Katrina. Malcolm Olds, pointing toward the Mississippi River levee, says he is unlikely to reinvest there. Federal officials are studying whether the improvements in the parish would be economically justifiable.
(By Peter Whoriskey -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
The announcement also leaves unresolved the fate of lower Plaquemines Parish, a rural strip of land that counted nearly 15,000 residents before the storm.
Administration officials said they are still weighing whether to spend an additional $1.6 billion for levee improvements there.
Lacking such protection would make it extremely difficult to rebuild in the area -- new buildings may be required to be elevated as high as 35 feet to meet flood insurance requirements, officials have said -- and many believe it could lead to its virtual abandonment.
Administration officials are studying whether the improvements in lower Plaquemines Parish would be economically justifiable and are gathering more information on the feasibility of protecting such a narrow strip of land. They said they would not decide before June.
The fragile relationship between federal and local leaders was shattered last month when federal rebuilding officials announced that the cost of reconstructing the levees to federal standards had nearly tripled to $10 billion, and that there may not be enough money to protect the entire region.
Since then, officials have reduced the total required to $7.6 billion by, in part, cutting projects that were deemed redundant. Of that, they are recommending that $6 billion be spent for levees, with the additional $1.6 billion for lower Plaquemines Parish still under review.
The federal rebuilding officials offered a new timetable for the reconstruction effort.
By June 1, or the start of hurricane season, the Army Corps of Engineers expects to have repaired the levees damaged by Hurricane Katrina. By next year, it expects to have completed construction on those levees that were not damaged by Katrina but have sunk over time, and by 2010 to have the levees certified as meeting federal standards on flood insurance.
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) said he was pleased at the White House request and what he called the "fairly reasonable rebuilding requirements."
"The especially good news is that the new federal guidelines do not restrict rebuilding in any part of New Orleans," he said, adding that residents "can now move forward with their lives and make tough decisions about rebuilding."
