Levee in south Slidell overtopped by floodwaters

It took about 30 truckloads of heavy clay and a big crew of Slidell workers and trustees Friday and Saturday to fix a 60-foot breach in a small levee on the south side of Slidell.

The storm surge created by Hurricane Ike caused Lake Pontchartrain waters to overtop a small levee on the south side of Slidell Friday morning, but the water did not get into any houses or neighborhoods just to the north of the levee.

The breach was discovered by city workers at 10 a.m. Friday.

“It was a minor breach at first, but it got bigger, and now it’s about 60-feet wide,” Slidell Mayor Ben Morris said Friday afternoon.

The levee, which is actually a raised service road used by CLECO to maintain their high-tension transmissions lines, stretches from U.S. Highway 11 to the railroad tracks and is behind the First Baptist Church on Pontchartrain Drive.

To the north of the church are two subdivisions, Delwood and Yester Oaks. However, Morris said the water was flowing toward the railroad tracks to the west away from any neighborhoods, and then to the Lee Street pumping station where the water is pumped into the marsh.

City workers worked into the night trying to fill in the breach. The city had ordered 30 truckloads of heavy clay to repair the breach. They had to work fast, because lake waters were still rising, and supposed to stop around 9 p.m.

Department of Public Operations Supervisor Dan Yeates said it took workers about six hours to fix the breach.

“We stayed here until 2 a.m., and then came back at 7 this morning,” Yeates said.

Lights had to be brought in and bulldozers pushed the dirt down the road to the breach. Yeates said they repaired another small breach that had occurred nearer to U.S. 11.

In the end, Yeates and his crew literally rebuilt the road/levee, raising it by 28 inches, making it wider and sturdier.

By 4 p.m. Saturday crews had extended the road all the way to the overlay on U.S. 11.

Though the water did not get into any houses, two Yester Oaks residents showed up at the breach Friday afternoon to make sure they didn’t get any water at all.

“I got seven feet of water during Katrina,” said Pete Ware. “And I just don’t want that to happen again.”

The city has been trying for several years to get the U.S. Corps of Engineers to build the levee higher. Morris said the city has run into several bureaucratic brick walls in their efforts to improve the levee.

One of the biggest roadblocks is that Morris doesn’t know who owns the land. It may belong to CLECO, or the parish. One thing the mayor knows is that the levee is not in city limits.

“It doesn’t belong to us, but we are taking responsibility to fix it now, because of the danger this poses to Slidell residents,” Morris said.

There have been discussions of raising the service road by another four feet, and the Corps would build some floodgates near U.S. 11 across from the Schneider pump station. However, Morris said no action has been taken on the plan.

“I’ve been screaming about this a long time,” Morris said.

Councilman at large Bill Borchert, and District B Councilman Richard Hursey watched as excavators and bulldozers worked to fill the breach Friday, and they were not happy with the federal government’s lack of response to flood protection for Slidell.

“It’s got to be at four feet higher,” Borchert said.

Hursey said the problem has to be solved by the city.

“We can’t wait for the federal government,” Hursey said.

The councilman said some lake water did overtop the levee during Hurricane Gustav last week, but not to the extent it did on Friday.

“We have to do something now,” he said.