Army Corps maps neighborhoods' flood risks online

Many parts of New Orleans struck hardest by Hurricane Katrina remain vulnerable to flooding despite nearly two years of attempts to protect them, a study published Wednesday by the Army Corps of Engineers found.

The assessment, laid out online in a series of neighborhood maps, is the first time the corps has identified in detail the areas that still face substantial danger from flooding. It shows a 100-year storm today would likely bury most of Gentilly and the Lower 9th Ward — two of the neighborhoods that suffered most after Katrina — under more than 8 feet of water. A 100-year storm is one whose severity has a 1% chance of being met or exceeded in any year.

Even in those neighborhoods, the corps' assessment suggests the areas vulnerable to severe flooding are smaller than they were before Katrina because of upgrades to New Orleans' levees. Most notable is Lakeview, where the corps concluded new floodgates have reduced the risk substantially during all but the most severe storms.

In the Lower 9th Ward, the corps' maps show more land now would escape serious flooding during a 100-year storm than before Katrina. The same is true in nearby parts of St. Bernard Parish. Other neighborhoods largely spared by Katrina, such as the French Quarter and Garden District, likely would be spared by all but the most severe storms.

The corps' reports do not tag neighborhoods as being dangerous or safe. Rather, they lay out potential damage from a variety of storms block-by-block and "let everyone make their own decisions about the risk," corps spokesman Vic Harris said.
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