Lafourche Parish shows signs of slow return to normalcy

With a watchful eye on Hurricane Ike, the Lafourche Parish Government is still in emergency alert mode, a week after Hurricane Gustav blew through the parish.

Brennan Matherne, the parish government information officer, said day-by-day things were looking better in the parish as far as reestablishing electricity and assessing the damages to homes and parish property.

“Once the threat of Hurricane Ike is over, then and only then will the parish government try to get out of emergency status and get things back to normal,” he said.

As of press time, there was not an official count of how many homes and governmental properties that were either destroyed or damaged during the storm.

Matherne reported that the major damage was to the Barrios Building in Raceland that houses the council chambers and several other departments. The roof came off the building and flooded the council meeting room.

“We are assessing the damage to the Barrios Building to see what needs to be repaired,” he said, “Hopefully we will be able to repair the damages and get everyone moved back. But, until then we will staff employees at the old Wal-Mart.”

Until the building is repaired, council meetings will now be held at the old Wal-Mart in Matthews. The threat of Ike has also forced the parish’s Emergency Operation Center to move into the Wal-Mart too.

Two of the parish libraries, Bayou Blue and Lockport, are also on the list of things that need to be repaired. They both received moderate roof damages and will not be open to the public until repairs are made.

As for local businesses, Matherne said privately owned establishments are responsible for their own assessments.

However, since power was restored in certain areas many businesses are opening up so that residents can support themselves, which relieved some of the stress off of the point of distribution sites, he said.

Fortunately for the parish, flooding was not a major issue. The only reported flooding was outside the levee system behind Delta Farms Subdivision in Larose and below the floodgates in Golden Meadow.

According to Matherne, the South Lafourche levee system and the pump stations held sturdy during the storm.

“The pump stations are run by diesel fuel so we don’t have to worry about them losing power,” he said. “But the majority of the credit goes to the levee system because it was able withstand the winds and rain of Gustav.”

Unfortunately, the parish could feel pressure from local residents in coming weeks about the rise in gasoline prices because Port Fourchon is not up and running.

Many of the business owners are coming back to assess the damages and make the necessary repairs to get things back to normal because Fourchon is a vital part of the parish’s existence, Matherne said.

“The longer the businesses stay down, the harder it will be on the parish and everyone else who gets their crude oil from the port,” he said. “We need to get Fourchon back up and running as soon as possible, and believe me the business owners feel the pressure too.”

Despite all the other problems, Matherne said the loss of power has been the biggest thorn in the parish’s side. A little less than half the homes and businesses in parish had power on Monday.

“Utility companies are working frantically to boot up the rest of the parish,” he said.

Many of the residents have been staying in one of the three shelters throughout the parish until their power is restored.

According to government officials, the shelters were set up for people who homes were inhabitable, and at this point, with so many without electricity, the parish is not questioning the residents who want to stay at the shelters.

There is not an official count of how residents are staying in the local shelters, but as of Monday they were not full.

“We are urging residents that need a place to stay to come by because we have room,” he said.

As Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, Lafourche Sheriff Craig Webre and Parish President Charlotte Randolph look on Saturday, Gov. Bobby Jindal discusses Lafourche Parish’s recovery with the media. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN