Governor: Flood help is on the way

Gov. John Bel Edwards offered some hope Saturday that future projects will spare Stephensville and surrounding areas from the flooding that has afflicted homes and subdivisions for months.

But there’s short-term help, too, Edwards said in a visit to Stephensville.

A sunken barge will be placed in Bayou Chene near Morgan City in what some consider to be the most effective back-flood control measure not just for Lower St. Martin but also for Terrebonne, St. Mary, Assumption and Iberville.

The state will pay the $7 million required to sink the barge, Edwards said, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide $2 million worth of rip-rap, the loose stone used to shore up breakwaters.

But “at this point we don’t intend to let money get in the way,” Edwards said.

Also Saturday, Edwards asked for federal help with flood-fighting efforts. The governor issued a disaster declaration Feb. 27 because of river flooding. The rest is up to President
Donald J. Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In another flood control move, the state Department of Transportation and Development has been installing a product called Barrier Force along both sides of La. 70 just north of Stephensville, where the highway has been closed by high water.

The barriers should be installed along both sides of the highway by Sunday afternoon, the governor said. His office had predicted the road would be open again by Monday.

For the long term, Edwards pointed to this spring’s announcement that a proposed permanent flood control structure that would eliminate the need for a sunken barge in Bayou Chene has been fully funded. The project has been estimated at about $80 million. The sunken barge approach was employed in 1973, 2011 and 2016.

The governor also said work to raise La. 70 in the affected area is also being considered.

Lower St. Martin has been battling flooding since at least March, and the stakes were raised again last week when the Corps of Engineers began to think about opening the Morganza Spillway. That would put more water in the Atchafalaya River and create more backflooding in the Stephensville area.

Edwards said the Corps decision on whether to “slow open” the Morganza Spillway over a few days in early June will be made Tuesday.

Edwards said the state has already spent $2 million on flood measures such as added Louisiana State Police and Wildlife & Fisheries patrols to keep roads and waterways safe.