N O L A.C O M
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T u e s d ay, J u ly 1, 2025
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N.O. flood walls sinking, study finds ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, speaks to reporters Monday as Republicans begin a push to advance President Donald Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package.
GOP works to shore up support on spending bill White House pushes Senate to ‘get the job done’ BY LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
A jet departs from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport as crews work on top of a levee wall along the western portion of the levee system that surrounds Jefferson Parish in Kenner on Monday. In recent studies on the levee system surrounding the area, stretches of this levee were reported to have some subsidence issues.
Scientists say rate is faster than sea levels are rising BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
Scientists have made an unsettling discovery about parts of New Orleans’ $15 billion hurricane protection system: They’re sinking faster than sea levels are rising. Using radar measurements taken from satellites, new research published Friday from Tulane’s Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering and California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory measured land elevation changes along the metro area’s storm surge protection system. In certain areas, flood walls are sinking at a rate of up to 28 millimeters a year. That’s up to 10 times faster than sea levels are rising due to climate change, according to the research-
“Some sections seem to be very stable and some sections seem to be going down relatively rapidly.”
entists. A couple dozen millimeters per year might not sound like much, but combined with rising seas and the loss of wetlands, the scientists say the subsidence of land that makes up MEAD ALLISON, chair of Tulane’s the levee systems could “pose a longDepartment of River-Coastal Science term threat” to the flood protection and Engineering system. When it comes to the levees, every inch counts. Subsidence, the gradual sinking of land, is a long-standing challenge in ers. The massive system of levees, New Orleans, where natural and hufloodgates and pumps is known as man-made factors combine to lower the Hurricane and Storm Damage ground elevations over time. Risk Reduction System , and was “Some sections seem to be very designed and built after Hurricane stable and some sections seem to Katrina in 2005. Its aim is to protect be going down relatively rapidly,” the city from a so-called 100-year said Mead Allison, the chair of Tustorm, one that has a 1% chance of lane’s Department of River-Coastal occurring in any given year. As the Science and Engineering and a coclimate heats, hurricanes are beä See SINKING, page 5A coming stronger, according to sci-
Sheriff to issue bonds for jail repairs Staff writer
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson has identified $19 million in capital repairs for the city’s jail and will issue bonds to cover most of that cost — something City Council members have urged amid an ongoing argument over the sheriff’s funding needs. Yet Hutson is also considering a hiring freeze to deal with a bud-
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 78 PAGE 6B
ä See SUPPORT, page 7A
State Sen. Duplessis joins N.O. mayor’s race BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Hutson still faces $9 million deficit BY BEN MYERS
WASHINGTON — The Senate’s long day of voting churned into the evening Monday, with Republican leaders grasping for ways to shore up support for President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts while fending off proposed amendments from Democrats who oppose the package and are trying to defeat it. The outcome was not yet in sight. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged the Republicans are “figuring out how to get to the end game.” And House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, signaled the potential problems the Senate package could face when it is eventually sent back to his chamber for a final round of voting, which was expected later this week, ahead of Trump’s Fourth of July deadline. “I have prevailed upon my Senate colleagues to please, please, please keep it as close to the House product as possible,” said Johnson, as he left the Capitol around dinnertime. House Republicans had already passed their version last month. It’s a pivotal moment for the Republicans, who have control of Congress and are racing to wrap up work with just days to go before Trump’s holiday deadline Friday. The 940-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as it’s formally titled, has consumed Congress as its shared priority with the president. The GOP leaders have no room to spare, with
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson is asking the New Orleans City Council for $9 million to cover a budget deficit. get deficit that is “threatening the operational viability of the city’s correctional system,” she said in a letter to the City Council on Thursday. She’s asking the council for an additional $9 million to cover the deficit. Complicating matters is a recent notification by Mayor LaToya
Cantrell’s administration that only half the sheriff’s $10 million quarterly city allocation will be paid on Tuesday, the due date, with the rest coming within 45 days. Hutson told City Council members at a committee meeting Monday this could
ä See SHERIFF, page 7A
A Louisiana senator who flirted for months with the idea of running for New Orleans mayor but bowed out of the contest six months ago reversed that decision Sunday, surprising other mayoral hopefuls and upending the race days before an official qualifying deadline. After state Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, announced in January that he would forego a campaign for the city’s top office, citing fundraising struggles and the rigors of the Legislature’s schedule, the field appeared stagnant for months. City Council Vice President Helena Moreno amassed nearly a million dollars in
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
STAFF FILE PHOTO
Royce Duplessis was elected to the Louisiana Senate in 2022.
fundraising for her mayoral bid, plus support from nearly half of New Orleans voters, according to some polls — the
ä See DUPLESSIS, page 5A
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