Isaac, Gustav, Katrina — the names read like a murders row of vicious storms that struck the River Parishes and plenty of other locales around the state and country.

We’re wiser now, more attuned to weather threats. Our ignorance is gone. We pay more attention to weather alerts, share warning information and, generally, take precaution when storms approach, hurricane or not.

Tuesday night was an accurate example.

According to The Weather Channel, severe weather swept across the South, spawning at least six tornadoes, which resulted in the deaths of at least four people. Numerous homes and businesses were destroyed and dozens of people were injured.

Before the storm approached, the governments of St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles Parishes were quick to share word about the impending threat, which was then shared through L’OBSERVATEUR’s website and social media platforms, as well as numerous other media outlets.

People took the storm threat serious, and many of our neighbors exercised the appropriate caution.

But more is needed.

Precaution is not enough when the storm is big enough.

That’s where the Army Corps of Engineer Civil Works Review Board’s latest news comes into play, thanks to the Board’s unanimous approval last week of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain levee project.

The move puts the project — which aims at protecting more than 7,000 structures from Montz to Garyville through levee construction — in Congress’ hands.

The next approval could come by April.

Plenty of credit goes to local and regional efforts to get this needed and obvious project forwarded this far, but we’re not done yet.

The plan calls for levee construction 18 miles in length that would protect Montz, LaPlace, Reserve and Garyville.

The levee would run between the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Montz and the Hope Canal in Garyville and would provide risk reduction for approximately 60,000 residents and nearly 17,000 structures in the region.

St. James Parish would not be protected by the levee, but the plan does include other measures designed to protect the east bank of the parish.

We are, painfully, more aware of our vulnerability to strong storms. It’s time for the protection to match the threat.