New Orleans levee project poses 'dilemma'

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers slated several New Orleans homes for tree- and fence-clearing measures to rebuild the levees, angering home owners.

The corps identified 180 residential and commercial properties that need to be cleared of fences, trees and shrubs because their posts and root systems penetrate, and subsequently weaken, the levee system in New Orleans, USA Today said Monday.

Officials told residents in the summer of 2007 of the clearing project and state law permits the move but residents complained they were unaware of the issue until Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005.

Satellite photos showed the base of the levee system reaching deep into residential properties, making the clearing operation a threat to many back yards, living rooms and swimming pools.

"I sympathize with (the residents)," Timothy Doody of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, told USA Today. "But at the end of the day, flood protection ... has to be provided for everybody. It's a dilemma."