Across the river on the west bank you'll find a part of New Orleans that was annexed as the Fifth District along with Carrollton in 1870 making the City and the Parish coterminus. The Crescent City Connection toll bridge provides access to the rest of the city. The New Orleans Public Library Nutrias exhibit has more background.

The westbank has historically been separated from the rest of the city. At first the only access was via ferry. Later heavy traffic on the bridges made access difficult. Only in the past ten years has there been adequate bridge capacity but tolls interfere with the New Orleans psyche and keep Algiers separate.

Not flooded during Katrina the Westbank has repopulated quickly.

Hurricane protection for the Westbank was, quite suprisingly, not been a priority of the Corps of Engineers. As an area that did not flood it has been quickly repopulated and appears to be growing. As luck had it, Katrina passed to the east of the city. This placed the Mississippi river levees between the storm surge and the Westbank. These massive levees protect the area from all but a category 5.

If the storm had passed to the west, the 27 foot surge that hit the Gulf Coast would have nailed the westbank. The Gulf Intercoastal Waterway levees are some of the lowest in the area ranging from 5.0- 9.5 feet. This waterway would have been the Hurricane Highway that assured the destruction of all Algiers and much of west Jefferson's most heavily populated neignborhoods.

Initial efforts to protect the area from the Harvey Canal were misdirected. The protection is being built in the wrong place. Rather than the flood walls locks and levees being built in the Harvey Canal, they should be placed  further south at the confluence of the GIWW and the Harvey canal to protect both waterways from surge coming from the south.

Updated: the Corps figured it out in 2006 and finally got started on a solution in 2008. June 1, 2011 sees the West Closure Complex in place. It gives the Westbank a chance. Good Going!

Much like Metairie, the westbank is struggling with the potential for rainwater induced flooding and the need for ponding areas and internal pumping.

"Algiers has suffered its share of disasters. Although the highest point on the Mississippi south of Baton Rouge, it has been several times inundated by high water on the river. This happened notably in 1855, as a result of the Bell crevasse, and in 1884, following the Davis crevasse. The latter submerged the entire rear portion of the city and the rest of the town was only saved from a similar visitation by the hasty construction of a "protection" levee a few blocks back from the river. The effect of the river current, perpetually eroding the bank at Algiers Point, has also been unfortunate. As early as 1844 an early and rapid rise in the river caused a considerable portion of the bank to cave in, carrying away the club house of the rowing club, and thus interfering for years thereafter with the evolution of what had previously been a popular pastime. In 1867 another serious landslide occurred, involving the destruction of a schooner which stood, nearly complete, on the ways. In 1894 the station house of the Grand Isle Railroad was engulfed, and in 1920 a similar disaster involved the ferry landing. Scientific methods adopted by the United States Government for the protection of the harbor of New Orleans have, however, minimized these accidents and made their repetition improbable." (from Kendall's A History of New Orleans, 1922)