
White House Announces $3.1 Billion for Levees
December 15, 2005
White House Announces $3.1 Billion for Levees
December 15, 2005 – The White House announced on Thursday plans to spend $3.1 billion on repairs and strengthening of the New Orleans levee system.
Officials promised that the city’s citizen would be safe and the levees would be "stronger and better," when asked if the levees would be built to withstand a Category 5 storm, said CNN.
"The federal government is committed to building the best levee system known in the world," said Powell. "It’s a complicated issue."
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin thanked Americans for the money to rebuild New Orleans and told former residents of the city to come home.
"It’s time for you to come back to the Big Easy," he said. "This action today says come home to New Orleans."
Officials said the levee system would be rebuilt to its previous level of protection before the hurricane season next year, and that the process of strengthening them further would take two years.
The $1.5 billion that the president is requesting would pay to armor the levee system with concrete and stone, close three interior canals and provide state-of-the art pumping systems so that the water would flow out of the canals into Lake Pontchartrain.