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Levee failure reason for 'complete destruction' of St. Bernard Parish
26,000 homes - a total loss - here we go...
posted: 09-13-2005
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Officials say the "complete destruction" of St. Bernard Parish apparently was caused by levee failure along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a 76-mile-long shipping channel.
Army Col. Duane Gapinski, who is in charge of pumping out the area, said the levee built in 1963 is 17-and-a-half feet high.
The Army Corps of Engineers believes up to 90 percent of the levee is damaged. That levee is in front of St. Bernard Parish.
The parish president estimates no one will be allowed to return to that parish for four months and it could be next summer before some people can go back to where they used to live. There is damage from oil as well as water.