Officials Say Water Will Cause Flood Problems

 Officials Say Water Will Cause Flood Problems

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

Flood water of perhaps historic quantities is scheduled to begin flowing downward from Avoyelles Parish, as St. Landry Parish officials issued a Friday noon advisory warning to residents living around Palmetto and areas near Washington and east of Port Barre.

Parish president Jessie Bellard said the nearly 40 inches of rain that inundated Avoyelles this past week is scheduled to move into St. Landry within the next seven to 10 days.

“From what I’m being told, this could be the worst flood in Louisiana history,” Bellard said during a noon press conference in the Parish Council meeting room on the Courthouse Square in Opelousas.

St, Landry Now.com photographer and website coordinator Fred Herpin said water between Port Barre and Krotz Springs is already flowing over the top of the flood structure known as The Falls.

Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Van Reed estimated that the anticipated flooding could cover an area of St. Landry where there are 3,644 households and 7,273 persons.

Reed said at this point the parish is not issuing a voluntary evacuation for any residents.

If an evacuation order is issued, Bellard said it will initially target La. 10 northward to the Avoyelles Parish line.

Bellard warned against possible complacency, since sunny skies expected to be pervasive over the next few days, should not fool northern St. Landry residents that they are going to be safe from potentially rising waters.

“People are going to look up and see sunshine and think there’s no problem. What we want to do is get the information out there so residents won’t be trapped and not be able to get out,” Bellard said.

“Sometimes something like this is hard to believe, but we want to make sure that people know. If they choose to stay, that’s up to them,” added Bellard.

Bellard said a nursing home in Palmetto has already begun evacuating residents to shelters elsewhere.

Areas the parish expects to be first affected are the Palmetto and Bayou Jack areas, Bellard pointed out.

There are no initial estimates about the depth of the water that is expected to enter St. Landry, said Bellard.

“We don’t know those details. All I know is from what I’m getting from the Corps of Engineers. It’s coming and how much and how deep it is going to be depends upon some of the obstructions that are in the way,” said Bellard.

State agencies such as the Governor’s State Office of Emergency Preparedness, the Louisiana Department of Health have been in contact with St. Landry officials.

Bellard said he and state officials would begin touring St. Landry and Avoyelles by helicopter on Friday afternoon to better ascertain the extent of water that will probably impact St. Landry.

The parish is preparing emergency shelters at the Yambilee Building and Indian Hills Country Club in Opelousas, while Lafayette Parish has acknowledged that it will have shelter space available if necessary, said Bellard.

Bellard said that a new parish emergency system that uses a phone app that can download images to a parish-operated Global Information System, is already being used by residents to direct work crews to affected areas.