New maps show major reduction in flooding risk during 100-year storm

When the Army Corps of Engineers completes construction of a new flood protection system in 2011, vast areas within the new protection system will see dramatically reduced flooding risks, according to new maps released Wednesday.

The risk maps, which factor in levee and floodgate improvements designed to protect New Orleans from a 100-year hurricane -- about the strength of Hurricane Rita -- show broad swaths of dry land in areas that corps officials believe would flood if a similar storm hit the
current levee system. Further, the new projections show the system would hold up well even in a much stronger, 500-year storm, one substantially stronger than Hurricane Katrina.

Corps officials also announced that completion of the upgrades, combined with drainage improvements, will require an additional $7.6 billion, most of which the Bush administration plans to seek from Congress.

Donald Powell, federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding, called the map release one of the most important events in the state's recovery since the 2005 flood.

"If I were in the real estate business, or if I were anticipating coming to live in New Orleans, the first thing I would look at are these maps we're releasing today," he said during a Wednesday news conference.

The risk maps still indicate high water levels in the lowest neighborhoods in the event of a 100-year hurricane, defined as a relatively strong storm with a 1 percent chance of hitting Louisiana in any year. That flooding would stem from rainfall and, in rare cases, a minor amount of overtopping of levees or walls.
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