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Can Levee Board Members Force the Corps’ Hand?

Friday, April 25th, 2025

Gregg Huber and Roy Arrigo. August 2006

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry wants to appoint the board members who serve on the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, rather than let a blue-ribbon committee do it. What does this mean for the people of south Louisiana?

Prior to Hurricane Katrina––and now––the US Army Corps of Engineers is 100% in charge of design, construction and the instructions for maintenance.

After Katrina, legislation was passed to merge the Orleans Levee Board (OLB) with the Jefferson and Lake Borgne boards and also to create a nominating committee to select who serves. There was a public misperception that board members would “oversee” the Corps’ work.

The board members who served since Katrina quickly learned that they couldn’t legally do what they were expected to do. Board members can only make suggestions, and the Army Corps has a history of ignoring them.

Founder Rosenthal meets with delegation from Brazil

Sunday, April 20th, 2025

Sandy Rosenthal meets with a delegation from the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil which had historic flooding in 2024 similar to New Orleans in 2005. Organized through Global New Orleans and the US Dept of State

This week, founder Sandy Rosenthal met with a delegation from the State of Rio Grande do Sul which had suffered catastrophic flooding last year on a scale similar to New Orleans in 2005. The visit, organized through U.S. Department of State, included some notable participants:

Rodrigo Huguenin, Director of the Department of Energy at the Secretariat of the Environment and Infrastructure for Rio Grande do Sul State; Joel Goldenfum, Executive Secretary of the Scientific Committee on Climate Adaptation and Resilience for Rio Grande do Sul State; and State Deputy Nadine Anflor of the Rio Grande do Sul state legislature.

Rosenthal explained why the city of New Orleans flooded during Hurricane Katrina and what steps have been taken since to prevent a repeat. The meeting took place at the Levee Exhibit Hall and Garden in the Filmore Gardens neighborhood of New Orleans.

LeveesOrg Founder & Friends on Gov Jeff Landry’s Plan to Topple Levee Board Reform

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025

Local celebrity Rudy Vorkapic (creator of The Levee), Stuart Lob (local engineer) and founder Sandy Rosenthal discuss the resignation of four East Levee Authority members upon the governor’s selection of its president and what this could mean for New Orleans’ levees and the people who live behind them.