PORT ARTHUR, Texas — With hurricane season nearing its end, local officials are already preparing for future storms as they move forward with a major project to strengthen the Port Arthur seawall behind Rose Hill Park and nearby neighborhoods.

Jefferson County Drainage District 7 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are partnering on a $404 million effort to raise the seawall by five to six feet, part of the larger $2.5 billion Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Project. Construction is expected to begin in late summer 2026.

The project aims to better protect residents like Dora De Paz, who has lived next to the seawall for nearly 25 years and saw her home damaged during Hurricane Ike. “We noticed that the water had come through the window, here in the back of t

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