As Hurricane Ida rolls towards Louisiana, a main floodgate is being left open at New Orleans Lakefront Airport because it’s no longer necessary to protect the city, reported WWL-TV Saturday.
Located on Stars and Stripes Boulevard, the L-18 floodgate was removed for sandblasting and maintenance about a week ago, along with five other floodgates, said the outlet. Another five were being installed and closed Saturday, including one just a few feet away at Downman Road.
However, the L-18 floodgate, which is right at the entrance of the entrance to the historic municipal general aviation airport – the last art deco airport in the country – won’t be replaced before Ida is expected to touch land Sunday.
“It raises questions about the need for the gate to exist at all,” as it is not part of the new, $14.5 billion floodwall system in the area, said WWL-TV.
When the Flood Authority closes the gate during major storms, floodwaters from Lake Pontchartrain are trapped on airport property and sometimes leading to millions in damages for the airport and nearby businesses.
For example, after Hurricane Isaac in 2012, a valve at the gate was kept closed, preventing floodwaters from draining back into the lake for days.
Wilma Heaton of the Flood Protection Authority and chairwoman of the Lakefront Management Authority is leading an effort to get $200 million in federal aid to build a separate flood protection system for the airport.
Trapped water could keep the airport from serving as the designated air evacuation point for area hospitals, WWL-TV explained.
Flood Protection Authority Regional Director Kelli Chandler announced the L-18 gate opening would be closed with sandbags during a Friday press conference. She WWL-TV the gate is redundant and does not need to be closed to protect the neighborhoods across Hayne Boulevard from the airport.
Airport manager Chris Henderson, emailed airport tenants to say he had received “good news” that the gate would remain open. Henderson and other officials hope it will allow water to drain back into a lake near the airport hangars, offices, and historic art deco terminal building.
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