NEW ORLEANS -- The White House agreed yesterday to raise levees in the New Orleans region to protect against another Hurricane Katrina-force storm, clearing the way for tens of thousands of homeowners in the below-sea-level city to begin rebuilding their ruined properties, as long as they elevate them by as much as 3 feet.
Administration officials said they had agreed to seek an additional $2.5 billion from Congress to raise the levees, a decision that freed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to release long-delayed flood maps that show how high houses must be raised to qualify for federal flood insurance, mortgage loans and state rebuilding grants.
The flood maps indicate that many houses in New Orleans will have to be raised 1 to 3 feet, but that is far lower than the 10 feet or more that might have been required if the federal government had not committed to raising the levees. Raising a house 3 feet with hydraulic jacks can cost more than $50,000, with every additional foot adding $8,000 to $12,000, experts say.
The good news for New Orleans, however, came tempered with cautions.
Federal officials had previously promised New Orleans residents that the complex system of interconnected levees and floodwalls, which failed in several areas on Aug. 29 during Hurricane Katrina, would be repaired to "pre-Katrina strength" by June 1, the start of this year's hurricane season.
But engineering estimates released last month by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated that the levees will need to be raised even higher than previously thought if they are to protect against a once-in-100-years storm, prompting the need for the additional funds from Congress. Until those improvements to the flood protection system can be completed in 2010, residents will remain vulnerable to flooding in the event of another Category 3 hurricane like Katrina, officials acknowledged.
"Between now and 2010, there is a heightened level of risk," said Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, commander of the Corps of Engineers.
Even more extensive protection against Category 5 storms, the worst, which by some estimates could cost more than $30 billion, is under study and a long way off, officials said.
"This will enable people to get on with their lives," Donald Powell, the White House coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding, said yesterday as FEMA released the advisory flood maps.
