Lafourche, Terrebonne weather the storms

Grand Isle lifts mandatory evacuation; LA 1 opens
August 27, 2020
Sheriff: All Roads Open in Terrebonne
August 28, 2020
Grand Isle lifts mandatory evacuation; LA 1 opens
August 27, 2020
Sheriff: All Roads Open in Terrebonne
August 28, 2020

As Hurricane Laura approached, there was much speculation of the conditions of the Morganza to the Gulf levee system, specifically in the Montegut area. 

 

However, Reggie Dupre Jr., Executive Director of the Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District (TLCD), said the levees held up. 

 

“It appears it’s been a hundred percent success,” said Dupre on Thursday morning, before noting that he has not received any reports of home flooding or levee breaches and overtopping. 


 

“A lot of people are comparing this to [Hurricane] Rita,” he added. “We had 11,000 homes flood for Rita and two for [Hurricane] Barry last year.” 

 

Although Dupre said the preparation for Laura was excellent, he highlighted that the area could still benefit from levee improvements. 

 

“Look, if this storm would have made landfall in Morgan City, all bets would have been off; we would have had serious problems,” he continued. “But for a storm going around us like Rita or like Laura, I think we are prepared for that. We just need to keep making these levees higher, bigger, and hopefully one day we’ll get some federal funding.” 


 

Lafourche was spared from the worst of Laura as well. 

 

“Things are good,” Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson told the Times Thursday morning. “The system worked as it was supposed to.” 

 

He continued: “Other than the water that’s across Highway 1 right now between Golden Meadow and Leeville, everything else is great — no down power lines there, no trees falling or anything like that. It seems that things worked out pretty well.” 


 

Chaisson noted there were no other reported road closures besides Louisiana Highway 1, and the pumps are working at 100 percent capacity. 

 

The parish president commended coordination between all groups involved, including the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office and Terrebonne Parish officials. 

 

“The plans that we’ve all made and the things that we’ve done for a lot of years came into play for these two storms, especially when we were thinking that they were going to come right up by Lafourche,” he continued. “So, it worked out well.” 


 

As another tropical wave was reported in the Atlantic on Thursday morning, Chaisson said residents should remain vigilant. 

 

“It’s definitely not over yet. Really the peak of hurricane season is I think September 10th, so we still have a few weeks of this,” he continued. “…Now is the time to continue to be prepared and make sure you have your game plan together in case something does happen, or something heads this way.”