PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Thanks to a $62 million flood fix, those in charge of running Drainage District 7 feel more confident about heading into this storm season.
The new Alligator Bayou pumping station is online in Port Arthur.
This will help DD7 lower water levels in its canals and ditches before heavy rain events.
This comes as a relief as the disturbance in the Gulf has climbed to a 70 percent chance of development in the next two to five days.
The new pumps are smaller and efficient, and the extra pumping capacity runs at 1.6 million gallons/minute.
However, engineers admit that even the new pumping station could not handle another Harvey.
“We have updated everything to a 25-year storm and in many places up to a 100-year storm,” Allen Sims, vice president of water resources, said. “A 100-year storm is about 15 to 18 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.”
Harvey brought some areas in Southeast Texas more than 40 inches of rain in a four-day period.
Two areas near Port Arthur, Texas registered as much as 60 inches of rain.
DD& is also working on a project with the corporation of engineers to raise the levee and increase pumping capacity at the 19 other stations in southern Jefferson County.
12NewsNow has tracked the updates of the new Alligator Bayou pumping station for three years.
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