LAKE CHARLES, LA — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of the Southwest Coastal Louisiana Project. This project will deliver a non-structural approach to providing a 1 percent level of hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, primarily through a combination of elevating or floodproofing approximately 4,000 homes and businesses and undertaking coastal ecosystem restoration in the southwest portion of the state.

“The Corps is excited to partner with the state of Louisiana to bring much-needed risk reduction [to] the residents of Calcasieu, Cameron, and Vermillion parishes," said Colonel Cullen A. Jones, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District Commander. "With this initial investment, we will elevate approximately 800 to 1,000 homes and construct approximately 11 miles of shoreline stabilization along our coast.”

The Southwest Coastal Louisiana Storm Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration Project will provide hurricane and storm damage risk reduction and coastal ecosystem restoration in a 4,700 square mile area located in Calcasieu, Cameron, and Vermilion parishes. Due to its low elevation, flat terrain, and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, the people, economy, and unique environment and cultural heritage in this southwest Louisiana area are at risk of flooding from tidal surge and waves from tropical storms.