The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to start a $200 million project to reinforce more than 80 miles of earthen levees in the New Orleans area.
In 2005, a tidal surge from Hurricane Katrina led to the failure of a number of earthen levees in the region, causing catastrophic flooding in Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. The Corps has since been repairing and upgrading the flood control system in the past decade with better pump stations and stronger levees.