Levee district app a boon to mariners

Protectors from the storm
June 10, 2015
Miss Piggy, Kermit preparing for future storms
June 10, 2015
Protectors from the storm
June 10, 2015
Miss Piggy, Kermit preparing for future storms
June 10, 2015

A smart phone app that advises users which floodgates in Terrebonne Parish are open or when closures are pending is being hailed as a success by levee district officials, who are hoping additional people sign up for the free service.

Released in 2013 the smart phone app is simple to operate and gives thorough information. It also has a built in calendar.

Angela Rains, administrator for the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District, developed the tool, which local mariners said has been useful for planning purposes.


“People are using it,” she said. “Almost 100 people have opted in for text messages, and we have had 1,118 total hits since becoming operational.”

Mariners rely on the app to make it back inside protected waters before they are locked out.

“Now, I have multiple ways I can contact people and get information out through the app,” Rains said. “And they can sign up for alerts and it will send them text messages. It can reach Android and Apple phones.”


Rains got the idea after learning about the Houma Police Department’s tech solution for communicating with the public. The HPD app includes instant alerts on crime. Rains spoke with Houma Police Chief Todd Duplantis, who introduced her to that app.

Rains got the idea for having a similar free product after floodgates were closed for Hurricane Karen, resulting in a lockout of more than 36 vessels that might have come in had their captains known the gates were closing.

Ohio-based iShop App, which developed the police department’s AppArrest, the police application, was able to modify its format to meet the levee district’s needs.


“Necessity was the mother of invention,” said levee district director Reggie Dupre. The cost of the program was $2,100 for the first year. Although levee board approval is not required for that amount, Dupre and Rains introduced the concept to its members.

“We were having all these nightmares with Karen and we had to figure a more efficient way of disseminating information in times of emergency,” Dupre said. “We have a total of nine structures with one under construction and three more under design. We will end up with 13 floodgates and it seemed a single source would be a very good way of communicating.”

Julie Falgout, seafood industry liaison for Louisiana SeaGrant at LSU, has been spreading the word about the app through Facebook and other social media.


The app allows mariners to report – by text or photo – hazardous conditions or damage to marine structures. And a text alert feature means emergency information can be sent on an immediate text push through SMS technology.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Falgout said. “Most fishermen carry smart phones and with something like that. Instead of having to wait on information they can have it right there.”