Jim Harlan Makes Lake Pontchartrain Flood Gates Top Priority
"On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it's time that we have real protection." - Jim Harlan
Slidell, La - Aug. 29, 2008-- On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Congressional candidate Jim Harlan made a solemn promise to constituents in devastated parts of the First Congressional District:
"When I go to Washington, I will fight for flood gates at the mouth of Lake Pontchartrain as part of an integrated hurricane protection system," Harlan said. "Gates are the only way to keep the lake a lake, and not allow it to become a raging ocean from hurricane storm surges. It's the only way to protect the north shore from flooding and take pressure off the south shore levees of uncertain quality."
During Katrina, massive amounts of ocean water from the storm surge pushed into leading communities of St. Tammany Parish. The high water levels in Lake Pontchartrain also contributed to the pressure on the levees in Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
The flooding in St. Tammany Parish was a natural disaster and the canal breaks on the south shore were a civil engineering disaster. Both could be prevented from happening again with flood gates on Lake Pontchartrain as part of a long-range protection system that also includes wetland restoration, Harlan said.
"To protect our communities, we need to keep the 12-foot lake from becoming a 25-foot ocean from hurricane storm surge," Harlan, an engineer, said. "We do that by building protective flood gates on the Rigoles. The Dutch have done it. London has them. Why not us in Southeast Louisiana?"
In a new radio commercial, which is scheduled to begin airing this weekend, Harlan admonished Scalise for failing residents in the First District on hurricane protection and recovery.
In the last four days, Harlan has attended four major hurricane protection and recovery events to discuss the ongoing needs of the district. Scalise was a no show every time.
“Scalise has been missing in action on this most important issue for our region,” Harlan said. “His priorities are all wrong. When Congressional leaders who control the purse strings for hurricane protection and recovery were here to meet with local officials and Governor Jindal, Scalise took a tax-payer funded trip to Alaska to promote drilling in ANWR. He wasn’t here to speak for the First Congressional District. It boggles the mind.”
On Friday, Harlan paid tribute to the lost lives, livelihoods, homes and communities hit by Hurricane Katrina at memorial events on both sides of Lake Pontchartrain.
“As we remember what we lost, we should resolve to move faster to keep it from happening again,” Harlan said. “We still have much work to do. We need better hurricane protection and federal responsibility for recovery, especially in rebuilding our healthcare services. We need to be sure we're safe from the water when a hurricane like Gustav looms in the Gulf so that hurricane flooding in this region is a distant memory and not a seasonal nightmare. And we need a proven, problem-solving leader – not a career politician – to do the job. I’m making this my priority.”
