NEW ORLEANS - High tides due to gusty winds threatened renewed flooding in storm-ravaged New Orleans, the US Army Corps of Engineers said on Monday, but steps were being taken to prevent it.
The Corps said it was closing two canals where levee breaches poured water into the city after Hurricane Katrina and adding sandbags to temporary levee repairs already in place.
Strong east winds had pushed tides higher than normal, the Corps said in a statement, and water already was spilling over a 20-foot-wide levee breach in Terrebonne Parish near the town of Montegut 60 miles (96 km) south of New Orleans.
Helicopters were placing sandbags in that break and also in others in adjoining Plaquemines Parish, it said.
Powerful Katrina, which struck Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug. 29, fractured levees that protect New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain and flooded 80 percent of the low-lying city.
Temporary repairs were made and most of the water had been pumped out when Hurricane Rita hit the Texas-Louisiana border on Sept. 24. Rita's storm surge pushed water over the levees and into parts of New Orleans once again.
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