Army Corps Faces Mountain Of Mistrust In New Orleans' Ninth Ward

I supervised cargo operations at the France Road terminals for five years. Hundreds of jobs were lost because the canal wasn't widen. Below pictures are from the port was active. Middle photo below shows a completely empty facility, except for the wharf rats. Photos show the canal as it is today. There is clearly room for expansion. The reason for the lock is because the Mississippi River is above sea level. Lake Pontchartrain, not really a lake, is at sea level. By widening the lock, barge traffic can be taken off the river and loaded/unloaded at the France Road terminal. This will bring business back to the area.

Public's concern is unfounded. They will be in no different situation if the canal is left alone or enlarged. As one can see in the maps, the lower ninth ward (next to the river) is only feet above sea level. They currently live in a swamp. Making the canal larger will not will not change their current flood danger. The river levee never failed. Flood danger comes from the surge from the East. When water flows towards downtown it hits stronger levees and floodwalls and has no where to go but back to the East. There is no natural drainage. Pumping stations have to pump the water into the Lake which finds its way back to the Lower Ninth Ward.

Yeah the Army Corps of Engineers isn't much liked here. We fairly weathered the storm until the levees crumbled.

I sympathize with these people. I guess one of the questions I have is, is the current infrastructure repaired for another strong storm of Katrina's strength? If not, then that's where the focus needs to lie. If so, go through those people's concerns more quickly than a year. We can't keep kicking the can and these residents down the road.