Impact of Hurricane Ida on the New Orleans Infrastructure
Hurricane Ida and its 150 MPH winds ripped through southeastern Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2021. The result was largescale damage to structures, streets, and utility poles. The big question is, how did the city’s infrastructure hold up overall? Well, like many things in life, the answer has both good and bad news.
How the Infrastructure in New Orleans Held Up During Hurricane Ida
The good news is that the $14.5 billion storm protection system built after Hurricane Katrina withstood the onslaught. The system, which was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is comprised of higher levees, seawalls, floodgates, pumps and drainage to better fortify the area during such events, and, so far, so good.
Unfortunately, the region’s power grid did not fare as well and took on severe damage, including all 8 high-voltage transmission lines serving the area going down. The result: power outages for more than 1 million households.
Of course, the power grid was not the beneficiary of a multi-billion dollar hardening project like the aforementioned storm protection system, which shines a light on the fact that enhancing pieces of infrastructure won’t cut it – these efforts must be all-encompassing. For example, while the notion of undergrounding power lines was discussed after Katrina, it was rejected due to the high cost. Clearly, this was a huge mistake.
I’m sure the $14.5 million storm protection system project was worthwhile, but it pains me that other parts of the city’s infrastructure were ignored. Granted, that was back in 2005 and I would hope that decision-makers are more aware of the negative impact of global warming now, but what’s done is done.
Hopefully, decision-makers – whether in New Orleans or elsewhere – will start realizing that future hardening efforts must be holistic in nature, targeting all areas of infrastructure, including electricity, water, sewer, transportation, telecom, roads, structures, etc. If not, the next time a storm like Hurricane Ida blows into to town, it could create a true, multi-regional catastrophe.
