Norton to Break Ground on Levee to Protect SE and SW Neighborhoods (11/15/10)
Norton to Break Ground on Levee to Protect SE and SW Neighborhoods
November 15, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will make opening remarks today at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Levee Groundbreaking at 10:00 a.m. at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, after securing $5.8 million for construction of the levee. Recently, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) updated its 1985 Flood Insurance Rate Map, which identifies Special Flood Hazard Areas in the District of Columbia and throughout the U.S. The map outlines potential flood zones in the SE and SW areas of the District, surrounding the U.S. Capitol and monuments, and required residents within the 100-year flood zones to obtain flood insurance, temporarily, until a portable levee is constructed in the area around 17th Street and Constitution Avenue.
"When all else failed, I turned to stimulus funds to pay for the federal levee," said Norton. "Breaking ground on the levee today is the first step to protecting southeast and southwest neighborhoods, the Mall, and monuments that are all vital to the District's tourist economy."
The Congresswoman was able to hold off issuance of the flood map for two years to spend time working with FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service (NPS) and the District to obtain funding to build the levee. Norton was able to get $5.8 million in federal stimulus money for the construction of the levee, which will be built by the Army Corps and beautified by NPS.