Joey Keller has lived along the West Shore of Lake Pontchartrain for the past 17 years.
Keller and his neighbors in the Frenier Village area of St. John Parish fear strong storms moving east to west across the lake.
"All that water from Lake Pontchartrain comes west and floods all this area. It flooded last time all the way to St. James Parish," Keller said.
Hurricane Isaac in 2012 pushed water from the lake into people's homes in nearby LaPlace. The flooding also closed parts of I-10, a major hurricane evacuation route. Keller maintains even strong winds out of the east can push water onto local roads.
"It usually puts a foot to a foot and a half of water on to Peavine Road which ends up shutting down the restaurants back here," Keller said.
A plan to fortify the West Shore has been in the works for the past 40 years.
It would include 18 miles of new federal levees extending from the Bonnet Carre Spillway in St. Charles Parish to the Hope Canal in St. John.
U.S. Senator John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, recently announced some initial funding for the project.
"We've got language put in the bill, the Water Infrastructure Act to start the process of a feasibility study," Kennedy said.
The project was authorized by Congress, but never funded.
"The supplemental funds are still being divvied up in DC between the Secretary of the Army and the Office of Management and Budget and the president," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District Commander, Col. Michael Clancy said. "So, we'll see. I don't know if we'll get any money for West Shore."
While locals are encouraged there is money available for a feasibility study, they know any West Shore levee project is still a long way from reality.
"Probably not in my lifetime," Keller joked.
The project is now estimated to cost $744 million.