Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) Update

Like New Orleans to its east, Jefferson Parish sits below sea level and is protected by hurricane levees.  All water falling within the hurricane levees must be pumped to either the Mississippi River or Lake Pontchartrain. To identify the current floodplain limits, CTE performed hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of the approximately 125 square miles within the hurricane levees, including 340 miles of interconnected drainage canals and 23 stormwater pump stations.  The parish canal system was modeled using the latest version of HEC-RAS software developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.  The Corps is collaborating with CTE to ensure that this first application of the new pump station software works properly. A digital map will be submitted to FEMA at the completion of the project.