Federal budget cuts will stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from conducting its regular inspections of New Orleans’ levees in 2025 and 2026 — a break in oversight that comes 20 years after Hurricane Katrina’s failures flooded most of the city.
The Corps typically conducts a full inspection of the region’s levees every year, according to Jennifer Stephens, the Corps’ levee safety program manager. The Corps considers it best practice to conduct this type of inspection at least every two years, but does not have funding to do it in 2025 or 2026.
The inspections are a key component of the Corps’ efforts to keep the city safe from storm surge flooding, and a safeguard against the catastrophic levee failures that took place 20 years ago this month during Katrina, which flooded 80% of New Orleans…