Maps another blow to Lafourche

Lafourche Parish is appealing the proposed preliminary digital flood maps, saying their current form will be detrimental to the economic growth of the parish.

The Lafourche Parish Council hired the Shaw Group of Baton Rouge, Cut Off’s Angelette-Piccola and well-known engineer Joseph Suhayda, at a cost of $200,000, to draft an appeal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s digital flood insurance rate maps.

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said the parish hired three different firms to speed the process to beat the 90-day window the parish has to approve the maps.

“Suhayda has been assessing flood maps for years,” she said. “Angelette-Piccola is familiar with the structure of the parish, and the Shaw Group has been selected by other parishes. The three firms combined will get this done quickly so that we can move forward with our appeal.”

Lafourche Parish is appealing the FEMA maps because they send a message that the parish’s hurricane protection system is defective, Randolph said. The proposed maps no longer recognize the South Lafourche Levee System, which officials argue is illogical.

“FEMA doesn’t consider our hurricane protection system to be a viable one,” she said. “It has protected us through many hurricanes season and as long as we continue to improve it, it will keep on protecting us. After a $120 million investment, this system is certainly a viable one.”

The proposed maps suggest that the South Lafourche Levee System is below the elevation standard on the basis of the new 100-year hurricane protection model. In turn, homes and businesses inside and outside of the levee system will have to be elevated to at least 14 feet above sea level in some areas.

Windel Curole, director of the South Lafourche Levee District, said that would likely cause a tremendous economic problem for the south Lafourche area.

Randolph said FEMA should know how integral the levee system is to the oil and gas industry because the South Lafourche Levee System protects the only road that leads to Port Fourchon

“There are a lot of things throughout the parish that remind people about what services and attractions the parish has to offer,” she said.

Some of the big draws to the area are Port Fourchon, Bollinger Shipyard and Edison Chouest Offshore. A number of businesses along Port Fourchon are upgrading and expanding, Randolph said. In addition, work is becoming available at Lafourche Regional Agriculture Center.

The recent spike in gasoline prices has also helped the offshore industry, she added.

“The price of gasoline suddenly gave the parish notoriety,” Randolph said. “This area is so important because it produces so much of the nation’s oil and gas. We have been saying it for a long time. But when gas prices spiked as it did, people began to pay attention to how vital Lafourche was to the nation.”

Unemployment is also down in the parish, and parish officials don’t want to see those figures threatened.

“To have minimal growth you have to be able to let people build in a normal fashion to keep the community functioning,” Curole said. “Retaining the present businesses and homeowners that occupy the southern part of the parish is the most important thing.”

Curole said the threat of not having the South Lafourche Levee System certified is already affecting lot sales in the southern part of the parish.

And property owners who are opting to bite the bullet are facing higher home insurance rates. Those with structures below the specified elevation are also risking having to pay a penalty for every foot they are below FEMA’s advised level, he said.

“This will definitely hurt us economically,” Curole said. “The maps don’t give people the incentive to move into this area.”

By not approving the maps, Lafourche Parish runs the risk of losing its ability to apply for federal hazard mitigation funds.

“If we don’t approve the maps then FEMA is not going to allow us to participate in any of the hazard mitigation programs that allow us access to the funds to mitigate repetitive flood claims,” said Grants and Economic Development Director Gretchen Caillouet.

The parish uses hazard mitigation dollars to purchase homes or elevate homes that have flooded repeatedly in recent years. Other hazard mitigation dollars are used for drainage projects like the current LeBlanc Drive projects, costing the parish $212,000 to improve.

Since 2005, the parish has collected well over $3 million in hazard mitigation money, Caillouet said.

“Not having the hazard mitigation funds will affect us for years to come,” she said.

However, Caillouet agrees with the parish’s decision to appeal the maps. She believes that the parish should have accurate information.

“If we don’t take the opportunity to appeal now, then we will have some residents and business owners having to build their structures a lot higher than they may want to,” Caillouet said. “This could cause a decline in our economic development, and we definitely don’t want that.”

On the upside, Randolph said Lafourche Parish is looking to tie in to the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system in Terrebonne Parish. Randolph said the tie-in would give Terrebonne and Lafourche the maximum amount of protection during hurricane season.