Plan to elevate up to 3,500 Louisiana homes advances | Environment [Video]

A plan to elevate as many as 3,500 homes in flood-prone areas of southwest Louisiana is advancing, with a schedule for work to begin on the first houses coming into view, Army Corps of Engineers officials say.

The $1.3 billion plan could also floodproof nearly 500 nonresidential structures and warehouses in the same region, Lieutenant Col. Nathaniel Weander told the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority board during a meeting in Lake Charles on Wednesday. 

The first contracts to screen homes to determine their eligibility could be awarded over the next few weeks, followed in May 2025 with the awarding of a contract to elevate the first homes as part of a pilot program, he said. The first home elevations could begin a month after that contract is awarded, he said.

The Corps and CPRA held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the first home elevation grant in Lake Charles on Wednesday afternoon following the meeting.