As hurricane season approaches, Southeast Texas is on high alert, keeping a watchful eye on the Gulf of Mexico for any signs of developing storms.
“It’s not if another hurricane occurs, it’s simply a matter of when we get another hurricane,” said Congressman Randy Weber.
Officials are predicting an especially active hurricane season, prompting Southeast Texas leaders to take significant measures to mitigate potential damage.
“So the Galveston district has two coastal storm risk management projects that we’re currently working on the Texas coast. The first one we’ve been active in for several years, and that’s called the Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay project. That project has three separable elements. One is in Port Arthur, one is in Orange, and one is in Freeport, Texas,” explained Rhett Blackmon, District Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Orange County has allocated $2.39 billion towards its portion of the project. Over the past two decades, the Gulf Coast has been repeatedly struck by hurricanes, prompting Congressman Randy Weber to support a separate project aimed at protecting the coast.
“This actually is the first federal dollars being allocated to the ‘Ike dike’ or coastal barrier protection, meaning that they can get started,” Weber said.
The Coastal Project, informally known as the “Ike Dike,” aims to protect hundreds of miles of the Texas Gulf Coast. Equally significant is the project targeting Orange and Jefferson County, officially named the “Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Project.”
“The Orange project is going to include some flood walls, it’ll include some levees, both of those are intended to prevent the coastal storm surge from inundating inland areas,” Blackmon noted.
These projects are expected to significantly bolster Texas’ infrastructure against hurricanes.
“There’s a lot going on. And what we’re really doing is setting the conditions to make sure that we’re building the right project,” Blackmon added.
With these extensive initiatives, Texas aims to better manage the impact of destructive storms and enhance safety during hurricane season.
