Made famous by images of helicopters dropping 3,000 pound sandbags into the breach caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this canal lies on the border between Orleans (left) and Jefferson (right) Parishes. The levee failed on the Orleans side causing flooding throughout Lakeview and mid-city and even some low lying parts of old Metairie.

The emerging thought on this levee failure is that the design and construction of the flood wall used to raise the height of the levees was flawed. Originally the Corps announced that the levee had been overtopped and failed when water spilling over the top scoured the lee side away. This proved to be false. Some reports now say that the maximum water levels were one and a half feet below the top of the floodwall. One eyewitness claims they were barely above the level of the earthen embankment.

The area around the breech has been commandeered by the State for the Corps. The ruined homes are still there surrounded by a 10 foot high chain link fence. The surrounding neighborhood has been very slow to recover although this is one of the more affluent areas in the city. Now eleven months after the storm, additional money may flow to some of these homeowners through the CDBG grants.