Reports of people driving four wheel drive pickups, towing and launching boats from the levees has drawn the attention of Chip Kline, head of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
“You call them a jackass, I’ll just call them irresponsible!” Kline cracked responding to WWL host Tommy Tucker who brought the story to Kline’s attention.
Kline may have started off jovially, but his take on the misuse of the levee protection system soon took center stage.
“I can’t think of anything more irresponsible at this point in time,” Kline said. “We shouldn’t be taking any chances with putting boats or heavy equipment on top of levees or doing any recreating or whatever it may be on flood control structures anywhere in South East Louisiana.”
Kline says if there is one bright spot in the whole Hurricane Ida storm event, it’s that the levees held. “It did exactly what we needed it to do, it did exactly what we hoped it would do.”
“If there’s a lesson from Hurricane Katrina, it’s that the levees failed after the storm passed.”
So it all comes back to staying off the levees.
“We have emergency regulations that there is not to be any driving, riding, recreating, on top of levees at this point in time—that includes Mississippi River levees.”
