Officials to U.S. Corps: Use sediment for coastal restoration
October 18, 2006Opening this Friday, Oct. 27
October 22, 2006FEMA will grant Lafourche Parish $5.53 million for the costs incurred immediately following Hurricane Rita, according to Parish President Charlotte Randolph. Of that, $5.2 million will be earmarked for the inflatable levees deployed between the several-mile stretch of Valentine and Lockport the day after Rita made landfall.
The $5.2 million bill presented by U.S. Flood Control has caused much controversy since mid-July when several of the council members learned of the invoice for the first time.
Randolph defended her decision at the mid-July council meeting by saying she acted in an “emergency situation,” using her authority to protect the people of her parish.
At its highest point, the water was a foot above the height of the original levees and bringing sand bags would have been too time consuming.
Public Works Director Ray Cheramie said that the inflatable levees prevented the flooding of 9,300 acres, 1,026 houses and one school. The estimated loss from flood damage was $34 million, he said.
Another issue that didn’t sit well with some council members was the length that the inflatable levees stayed in place, gaining a cost of $175,600 a day. Councilman Tommy Lasseigne questioned why they were left for 30 days when they were probably only needed for four.
Randolph said that the levees were kept so long because of the time it took for the waters to fully recede and the threat of another storm striking the coast.
“Certainly, it would make better sense in the real world if we would have bought them rather than rented them, but the way the government reimbursement process works through the Stafford Act is that you have to rent them,” Randolph said at a July meeting. “I don’t expect them to cost us anything.”
Randolph has been in constant contact with FEMA since the storm and assuring the council that the $5.2 million invoice would be fully reimbursed. At last Tuesday’s meeting Randolph said the funds would be transferred to the parish on Friday. Randolph could not be contacted by press time Monday to confirm if the transaction ever took place.
Jared Bailey can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or jared@tri-parishtimes.com
