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April 4, 2012
Bulkhead repairs are headed to Golden Meadow, which will receive more than $1 million from the FEMA funding to repair the structure behind the town’s floodwall.
“The floodwall, which runs along the west bank of Bayou Lafourche, has existed for 30 years with the purpose of protecting nearby homes and properties by reducing their chances of incurring bayou waters during storms,” FEMA’s Louisiana Recovery Office Deputy Director of Programs Andre Cadogan said in a press release. “Over time and given the recent storms in the area, the floodwall has subsided, and FEMA’s grant will help strengthen it.”
Funding for the repairs was provided through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which aids community preparation for future disasters by providing grants to undertake long-term goals for preparedness and protection.
“We have been working with Golden Meadow Mayor Joey Bouziga to identify this project with the town and get them the funding, and these funds will go toward Phase 3 of repair work on the floodwall,” said Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph. “The problems with the levee were identified about 10 years ago. This is money from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the parish divided it among several projects, this being identified as one of them.”
According to Randolph, Phases 1 and 2 of the repair work will address seepage under the levee wall. The latest phase will reinforce the wall and keep water out of the town.
“They have been repairing the levee for years,” Randolph said. “The levee system that circles the area and the wall in Golden Meadow have both helped to protect the town from storms.”
Phase 3 of the work will see the installation of 1,500 feet of vinyl sheet pile and replacement of soil around the wall to prevent further erosion.
The seawall is the savior of Golden Meadow, according to several locals, including the town’s mayor.
“Without it, we would have flooding often,” Bouziga said. “When it rains a lot in the northern part of the state and the rain water makes its way down here through waterways, we would have flooding if not for the seawall. It keeps water out of our homes and businesses.”
Once the Phase 3 work begins, the bulkhead behind the seawall, which is between 2 ½ to 3 feet tall, will be fixed so the wall will not collapse into Bayou Lafourche.
“We are looking at design plans right now for the work right now, but the work on this phase will not start until the end of this year, maybe even the beginning of next year,” he said. “We are hoping to start the Phase 2 work in next few months. Phase 1 of the repair work was completed three or four years ago with money from FEMA as well.”
The latest funding from FEMA will not fund all of Phase 3, and the town is expected to come up with a percentage of the cost. “It’s about $348,000,” Bouziga added. “I don’t know if we are going to look for federal, state or local money, but we are working on finding it right now.”
According to the mayor, flooding in the town during recent hurricanes was caused by rain and seepage from the wall. “I lived in Golden Meadow before the wall was built, and it flooded here every time it rained. I was just a young boy, but I remember the flooding,” Bouziga said. “On a day when the winds are out of the northeast, the road would be flooded if not for the wall. We had a business that flooded a few weeks ago with all the rain, and but it was caused by seepage.”
For Little Eagle Exxon Services owners Kirt and Jackie LeBouef, the wall is located right in their business’s backyard. Over the years, the building has been everything from a gas station to a car lot to a gun shop and is presently a crawfish diner, only open from January to May.
“The original building was constructed in 1923, and it was removed to put this building on the same spot as part of an expansion to open a car lot,” Jackie LeBouef said. “This building was constructed in 1940.”
The business, one of the oldest in Golden Meadow, was passed down to Kirt Lebouef from his stepfather, Milton Egle.
“In the 1930s, there were two boats that left every other day from the dock behind the old building, and they to headed to New Orleans for supplies,” Jackie said as she pointed to a framed photograph of the Laura N. II, one of the boats. “Local trappers would bring their furs to sell, and people would bring drums to have filled up with kerosene. As the boat made its way down the bayou, people would hang a white flag on their docks to signal that they had something to bring to New Orleans or if they need something from the city.”
Without the town’s seawall, the building where the image of the Laura N. II and others of the lighthouses once located at Timbalier Bay and Oyster Bayou might not be standing.
“Water would be under the building if it wasn’t for that bulkhead,” she said. “The wall has helped Golden Meadow big time, and it certainly needs to be repaired and the bulkheads need to be fixed. The seawall has helped everyone in this town. Some people were against it before it was built, concerns about access to the waterway, but boards were put in place to allow access. Everybody is happy with it now.”
LeBouef praised Mayor Bouziga’s efforts to keep the town high and dry. “He has done a lot, and there have been big changes in local flood control. He has done plenty,” she said. “If you’ve got problems with drainage, Joey will come by and see what the problem is. He doesn’t want to have any problems with the town’s drainage system.”
Work from Phase 1 and Phase 2 of repairs were visible behind at the back of property.
Just up the bayou from Little Eagle Exxon Services, Ray St. Pierre, a worker at C&G Boat Rentals, was pressure washing the business’s boat, Safari II.
“I was little when the wall was built, but I remember the road being covered at high tide before that,” St. Pierre, who has been with the company for four years, said. “I don’t know where we’d be without the seawall. You can see the places where it leaks at high tide, but it helps a lot during storms and hurricanes. I think we’ve got the best hurricane protection system in the state around here.”
C & G has been open since 1956 and specializes in commercial boat rentals. One of the company’s three buildings is located on the bayou side of La. Highway 1.
“Water got into the business’s main office for Hurricane Katrina,” C&G owner Albert Cheramie said as he pointed out waterlines on a piece of wooden furniture. “I remember the flooding from Hurricane Betsy, long before the wall was built.”
Cheramie and his grandson Alex Cheramie took a closer look at the corroded bulkhead between the area where Safari II is docked and the bayou-side building.
“We salvaged the legs off an old jack-up rig, and put them in front of the bulkheads in 2000,” Alex said. “They are sunk about 30 feet into the mud under the water. If it wouldn’t be for this supporting the bulkhead, it wouldn’t be here. The bulkheads have been in bad shape since I can remember, but it was worse before we made this addition.”
“Some work has already been done,” the Albert said as he walked along the bayou to an area where work from Phase 1 and Phase 2 could be seen.
It is the hope of Golden Meadow residents that repairs to the floodwall will protect the area and its way of life for years to come.
The seawall, in foreground, has protected Golden Meadow businesses like C&G Boat Rentals for the more than 30 years. Ray St. Pierre, an employee at business, can be seen pressure washing one of the company’s boats, Safari II.
