NOLA Threatened … Levees Overtopped

Plaquemines Parish officials are trying to open the Caenarvon Mississippi River diversion to ease pressure on a levee that is being overtopped in Braithwaite. Since power is out in the area, however, they are trying to open the diversion gates manually.

Plaquemines Parish workers have been furiously working on the levee along the Clearwater Canal since mid-afternoon. Floodwaters spilling over the top of the levee threaten the Braithwaite Park subdivision. (bottom right)

The levee has not breached, but authorities are not hopeful

“We don’t think our efforts are going to be successful so we need to get everyone out now,” Parish President Billy Nungesser said.

Officials said opening the diversion would allow some of the floodwater to be diverted into the Mississippi River, which is lower.

Meanwhile, St. Bernard Parish is sending firefighters, deputies and other workers to the area to help with the efforts.

The canal is on the east bank of the parish. The subdivision is off Louisiana 39. The 8-foot-tall levee is a parish levee that is not part of the federal levee protection system, officials said. Officials said the same levee is also being overtopped further south at Scarsdale.

Timelines developed by forensic engineering teams probing the failure of the hurricane protection system provide a slow-motion picture of a deadly tragedy that unfolded with surprising speed.

The costliest natural disaster in the nation’s history began early Monday, Aug. 29, with a small leak near the Interstate 10 High-Rise about 4:30 a.m. and climaxed with the horrific collapse of floodwalls along the 17th Street and London Avenue canals between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.

It would take many more hours for the water to reach neighborhoods far removed from the gaping wounds in the city’s defenses, but by the time the last section of the London Avenue floodwall came down, the breadth of the damage was inescapable.

Task Force Guardian – Unfinished Business