Locals wishing for a dry holiday

After major flooding devastated much of the Alidore neighborhood last Tuesday, some residents have begun to move back in and pick up their lives. Nearly 150 homes were flooded and 60 residents had to be evacuated as floodwater inundated the community. In Terrebonne Parish, six homes and more than 30 roads flooded, and Savanne Road remained closed as of press time.

A temporary emergency shelter was set up at the Raceland Recreation Center for residents of Alidore. It housed up to 33 residents during the height of the emergency, and still had 27 residents on Sunday.

According to Susan Hudlow, a spokesperson for the Southeast Louisiana Chapter of the Red Cross, “The 27 residents that were in the shelter have either returned to their homes or have temporary housing with family or friends.”

Cornell and Gail Gray of Bracota Lane in Alidore were among those taking shelter in the Raceland center this weekend. The Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol Unit rescued the Grays and their pregnant daughter Marie from their home by boat Tuesday morning.

“The shelter may not be my home, but as long as we are with family, it is home,” said Gail Gray.

For most residents, losing their home just before Christmas was the hardest part of the ordeal. But the Gray’s grief was compounded because they couldn’t attend the funeral of Gail’s sister on Saturday.

“It’s a lot to bear when you can’t be with your family during such a sad time,” said Gail. “It’s a major setback for us because there is no place like home. I don’t think we will view Christmas the same.”

In Terrebonne Parish, several homes and over 30 roads were flooded last Tuesday after several days of unusually heavy December rains.

Nearly a week after the flooding began, Savanne Road was still closed due to flooding. The closure has caused a near traffic nightmare for holiday shoppers and commuters on the Houma’s west side.

“Public Works is working on the solution for that road as of Monday,” said Eues, the Director of the parish’s Office of Emergency Preparedness.. “The water is not receding off the road. The reservoir is just still full of rain.”

Mike Efferson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that data from Schriever showed 9.33 inches of rain fell from Sunday night into Tuesday. An additional 2.59 inches fell over Friday night, bringing the weeks total just shy of 12 inches. At Louis Armstrong International Airport, the National Weather Service reported the December rainfall record set in 1947 had been broken by more than an inch.

Malcolm Wolfe, a spokesman for the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office, released a statement listing 34 streets that had flooded on Tuesday. Water was reported in homes on Fieldcrest and James Edison drives, and water was ebbing on the front doors of Manchester and Idlewild drives as well. Sandbags were made available at volunteer fire stations in Bayou Cane, Bayou Black, Gibson, and Schriever.

“Just about anywhere you go in the parish, you’re going to find some flooded streets,” said Eues on Tuesday. “However, all pumping systems are currently working.”

Wes McCann, a resident of Idlewild Drive, filled dozens of sandbags at the Bayou Cane Fire Station. “If we get one more good gush of rain, there will be no stopping that water,” he said.

McCann raced home just before the water ebbed over his front door, but it was too late to save the garage.

“I just finished repairing my home in September from the flooding we had back in March,” said Wes’ father, Steve McCann.

The McCanns and some of their neighbors complained that a nearby pumping station had not been turned on until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, and flooding had become more common in recent years.

Pumps in the Idlewild Neighborhood probably could not be turned on because the water levels were too high for the pumps to be effective, said Jeanne Bray, of the parish Public Works department.

The pumping system for that area is below the parish’s overall drainage system. When water levels are too high, those pumps are rendered ineffective.

“It only works when the water level is below a certain level. Basically, we’ve reached that level,” said Bray. “If we turn that pump on, all you’re doing is running pumps for no reason. It just recirculates the water.”

McCann, however, blamed the parish for his drainage woes.

“This is what happens when highfalutin politicians think they know what they’re doing, but don’t look at the results,” said Wes McCann. “They built levees south of here to keep storm surges out, but it holds all the rain water in.”

McCann, who just moved back to the area to help out his parents, said, “This never used to happen when I lived here 20 years ago.”

“Welcome back to [expletive deleted] Houma,” he said, shaking his head and piling on another sandbag.

Bracoto Lane resident Stanley Gray helps Contrelle Lawson remove water-damaged furniture Saturday from his grandmother Odessa Lawson’s home in the Alidore community. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN