JP leadership working on plans to keep flood waters at bay after Francine Flood

The aftermath of Hurricane Francine continues for many communities. Although cleanup is nearly complete, residents urge local leaders to learn lessons from any failures in services and infrastructure.

For Jefferson Parish, the leadership there will need to address the flooding that ensued due to the storm.

Mark Drewes, Director of Public Works for Jefferson Parish, says they are working on the issue although a complete overhaul of the current infrastructure is unlikely.

"To design our system for a twenty-five or fifty year storm level would be billions of dollars and we just don't have that."

However, there are projects currently in construction with more on the way.

"There are pump stations planned at the Seventeenth St Canal and West Esplanade to alleviate the pressure on the Bonnabel station."

Residents in Kenner were a bit more concerned due to the level of water and the rapid time in which it started to rise after Francine.

Several homes and businesses took on several inches of water and Drewes says that a project along the Duncan canal, that's in the drawing phase, will be the key to keeping water out of homes and businesses.

"They have a plan to put a station at the southern end of that canal and pump water straight to the river."