(Updated) Voluntary evacuation order issued for lower St. Martin Parish

St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars issued a voluntary evacuation order Monday afternoon for residents of lower St. Martin Parish due to backwater flooding along the bayous there.

Cedars made the decision after consultation with the director of the St. Martin Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Region 4 Coordinator of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Anyone who wishes to comply with the voluntary evacuation and needs assistance can call the St. Martin Parish’s Office of Emergency Preparedness at 337-394-2808.

St. Martin Parish government will hold a public works committee meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Belle River Recreation Complex located at 1413 La. 70. During that meeting, officials will give reports on the Bayou Estates Flood Proofing Project and flooding in the Stephensville/Belle River area.

Authorities have closed multiple roads in lower St. Martin indefinitely to all vehicular, except for residents in the immediate area.

Those closures include Stephensville Road, East Stephensville Road, Tower Tank Road, all of Bayou Estates Subdivision, Adell Street, Edna Street, Landry Road and Four Mile Bayou Road.

Also since last week, authorities have been advising cars or other low-profile vehicles to avoid traveling along La. 70 in the Stephensville area. However, La. 70 remains open to traffic.

Officials are continuing their efforts to do everything possible to prevent flooding and look for available resources, Cedars said. Authorities warned residents six or seven weeks ago that high water would probably an issue through June, but didn’t have any way of knowing it would be this bad. Bayous in the area are near the same level in streets, which renders any pumping efforts useless, he said.

Torrential rains Sunday worsened the flooding as the National Weather Service website shows the Atchafalaya River reached 8.36 feet Sunday afternoon in Morgan City.

The river is expected to stay near 8.3 feet at least for the next few days. But on the positive side, the area should a break from the rain during that time period, said Roger Erickson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Though forecasters expect the river level to stay high for a while longer, it’s unknown exactly how long that may be. A variety of factors, including rain up north and local rainfall contribute to the river stage, Erickson said.

Sand is still available at the sandbagging location that’s been set up for months at Stephensville Park, and officials are also setting up another location in Belle River, Cedars said.

Cedars says he’s contacted state officials multiple times to get the state Department of Transportation and Development to address flooding issues along La. 70.

In an email, DOTD spokeswoman Brandie Richardson said in an email that the department is aware of the high water that has been affecting a portion of La. 70. DOTD is working with GOHSEP to provide law enforcement in the area in order to keep traffic moving slow and to keep motorists in their respective lanes.
Additionally, there was a presence from state police over the weekend. DOTD is working to keep this roadway open, as the alternate detour route is extensive, Richardson said. Personnel from the district are scheduled to attend Tuesday's meeting to discuss efforts to keep the roadway open.

"We will continue to monitor the high water and look into future permanent solutions to reduce potential flooding from weather related events," Richardson said.

St. Martin Parish crews have been working to fix any seepage in sand bags that have been placed to prevent flooding, Cedars said. Since Cedars declared a state of emergency March 4 in lower St. Martin Parish, officials have distributed and strategically placed over 100,000 sand bags.