LAKE ARTHUR — Gov. John Bel Edwards applauded the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of volunteers, including schoolchildren, in responding to fast-rising waters and saving the town from major flooding.
“I have visited with the local officials and all have told me this was really about the people of Lake Arthur and the people of Jefferson Davis Parish who came out and worked so hard in order to prevent this catastrophe from being even worse,” Edwards said.
“There is a tremendous resilience here, and this is just people who have been good neighbors for one another.”
Edwards doled out praises Thursday to those who greeted him at the Lake Arthur Community Center, among them 90 schoolchildren who worked with town officials and other volunteers to shore up the lakefront levee on Pleasant Street with a 21⁄2-foot sandbag barrier to protect the town from the swollen Mermentau River. The group also constructed a 180-foot plywood wall to help stabilize the sandbags.
The wall of sandbags and plywood prevented the floodwaters from flowing through the town’s center and main street, Edwards said.
As many as 15 homes and eight public housing units were flooded, said Mayor Robbie Bertrand.
Edwards got a look at some of the recovery process and flood damage, including the wall of sandbags, which Bertrand said will remain in place because of the uncertainty of the tropical system now in the Atlantic.
“I think after seeing the reinforced wall he (Edwards) got a good understanding of the effort that went into it,” Bertrand said. “I think he got a general appreciation of what we did.”
During the tour, Bertrand said he spoke to Edwards about seeking hazard mitigation funding and grants to raise the height of the levees and add pumping stations to better protect the town.
“We discussed what we need to do to shore up some things and how we need the money to go higher with the levees and put the pumps up,” Bertrand said.
He said he hopes state or federal funding will be available to help cover the cost of some of the projects. “We want to try to get a piece of that pie and show that it is needed,” Bertrand said.
Members of the Broadmore Gravity Drainage District are also reviewing its response to the flooding.
“It’s a live-and-learn situation for us,” said Don Gauthier. “We did a lessons-learned scenario to see what worked and what didn’t and what we need to do different the next time.”
A similar assessment was made after flooding in 2013, he said.
Edwards also commended the efforts and support of dozens of volunteers and faith-based groups that are offering flood relief to victims across the state.
“They saw the need and they responded,” he said. “It’s very heart warming to see Louisiana take care of its neighbors.”
Edwards also toured flood damaged neighborhoods in Youngsville.
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