Plans for a permanent solution to flooding in Philadelphia's Eastwick section face setback

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – As Eastwick, a Southwest Philadelphia community, prepares to receive more than $2 million in federal funding to build temporary flood barriers, the process of searching for a more permanent solution continues.

One of those potential long-term solutions is a levee, an earthen embankment, that would stretch along the same path as the temporary barriers.

But Lt. Col. Jeffrey Beeman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said their studies showed a levee could protect Eastwick , but it could also flood other areas.

"That levee resulted in 14 inches of induced flooding, which was unacceptable to everybody around the room," Beeman said.

He said they're restudying the levee and won't have an updated plan until April 2025.

Despite the long search for solutions, Drexel University Professor Ben Kalina, who made a film about Eastwick, said other communities can learn from the ongoing collaborative meetings between government agencies and homeowners.

"There's a lot of work to try to look forward and come up with more equitable ways of planning for the future," Kalina said.

Despite the slow progress toward building a levee, Brenda Whitfield, who's part of the group Eastwick United, said she's looking forward to the temporary barriers.

"It doesn't seem like a lot to a lot of people," Whitfield said. "But it's a lot for us."