Water rises in lower St. Martin, but it's easier this year

While backwater flooding is present in parts of Lower St. Martin Parish, in general, Stephensville residents said Wednesday that it isn’t as bad as flooding was during 2019.
The bulk of the flood-ing surveyed during a trip to the area Wednesday was in the Landry Lane area, which has been closed to vehicles outside of residents due to flooding. Orange cones marked off the flooded road, and a pump was present on one of the initial sections of the roadway.
In late April, the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s office announced that Adell and Edna streets as well as Landry Lane were closed to the public outside of residents due to rising water.
Earlier this month, Four Mile Bayou Road was added to the closed areas.
Maj. Ginny Higgins, public information officer for the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, said she has not received any reports of water in homes this year.
Those road closures followed a previously issued No Wake Zone in the Stephensville and Belle River areas on April 3 in which boaters need to slow down when traveling through these areas so that more water is not pushed into yards and homes.
Mary Miciotto, who lives on Tower Tank Road along the water, said this year was the third time in about 40 years and the second straight year water has overtopped their bulk-head.
“This year it came over, but not near as bad,” he said.
Miciotto hasn’t had any water in his house this year.
“Last year, it got about a foot underneath our trailer, which it caused damage,” he said.
Closer to La. 70, sand-bags and pumps were present to protect property, but no streets surveyed were flooded.
Don Hover, who lives with his wife Sue on Stephensville Road, said they live on higher ground than other parts of the area.
The Hovers said this year has been much smoother than last year, and Don Hover said they haven’t had any problems.
Sue Hover showed a watermark near their dock on the lower por-tion of a tree where water reached a year ago. This year, the water isn’t even ap-proaching that mark.
“It got right in the edge of our yard, but that’s as far as it ever goes for us,” Sue Hover said, in showing off where the water reached last year.
Nearby on Deborah Court, resident Nelson Anslem said that the water is near where it was last year on his property.
“Every year it comes up like this,” he said.
However, he com-mended those who have put pumps in place to help with the water.
“They’re doing a good job of keeping the water out,” Anslem said.
At one point, he said his neighbor had water up to his sandbags, and Anslem said that he built up his property for the high water.
Even with the high water the last two years, Anslem said he has experienced worse.
“I’ve seen worse back here,” said Anslem, who has been living in the subdivision for about 20 years.
To an extent, dealing with high water is what is expected in living in Lower St. Martin Par-ish, Miciotto and Anslem said.
“Now once they do get the flood gates put in place in Bayou Chene, we shouldn’t have this problem anymore,” Miciotto said.
The floodgate protec-tion work is under con-tract to prevent having to sink a barge in Bayou Chene to ease backwater flooding. That has been done three times since the 2011 high water season.
Last week, the St. Mary Levee District accepted a bid by Sealevel Construction Inc. of Thibodaux for Phase Three of the project, which consists of building a barge that will swing into place to prevent backwater flooding to Lower St. Martin Parish.