Ricky James Pellegrin
December 17, 2013
Anna Marie Reed
December 26, 2013
For decades, fishermen and other boaters have relied on guesswork, word-of-mouth, marine radios and media reports that don’t always reach the waters they travel for information about floodgate closures.
Now there’s an app for that.
The Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District has unveiled a free smart-phone application that gives instant info on pending and current floodgate closures, allowing mariners 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,” said the levee district’s administrative manager, Angela Rains. “And they can sign up for alerts and it will send them text messages. It can reach Android and Apple phones.”
Terrebonne Floodgate Mate can be downloaded from the Google or Apple application stores after searching for it by name. The easy-to-use interface uses green, yellow and red cyber-lights to indicate whether one or more of the parish system’s floodgates is open (green), pending closure (yellow) or already closed (red).
Rains got the idea after learning about the Houma Police Department’s tech solution for communicating with the public.
After hearing of a series of burglaries in her neighborhood a few months back, Rains spoke with Police Chief Todd Duplantis, who introduced her to his agency’s new anti-crime app.
The Houma PD app includes instant alerts on crimes in various neighborhoods, press releases and the opportunity for subscribers to give feedback or report crimes and suspicious situations. Rains was an instant fan.
Then came Tropical Storm Karen in October. It was a minimal weather event, especially by south Louisiana standards.
But rising water levels necessitated closing of floodgates, and boats were potentially locked out of inshore waters.
“After Karen closed the Houma Navigational Canal, there was a parade of 36 boats,” said Rains. “It turned on a light bulb.”
Could the police application be modified to serve as an information center for floodgates?
A consult with the company that produces it, Ohio-based iShop App, registered a resounding yes. AppArrest, the police application, currently being used in 19 states, would require minor modifications, according to developer Mark Albert. Another iShop App brand, Kick in the App, was already fashioned to applications meeting other needs of government and private industry.
The program base common to all the apps was created for easy modification, Albert said.
In mere weeks, the firm had a prototype up and running.
“Necessity was the mother of invention,” said levee district director Reggie Dupre, who was impressed when Rains showed him the package.
The entire setup would cost $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.
Now more than ever, Dupre said, a communications solution is needed.
This year’s opening of the Bubba Dove floodgate affects more marine traffic than ever before, ranging from pleasure craft and commercial fishing boats to oilfield supply vessels and barge-pushing tugs. More components of the parish’s Morganza levee and gate configuration will compound the need for adequate communications with the public, officials said.
“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.”
Now, Rains is trying to get the word out so that the app can see widespread use.
Julie Falgout, seafood industry liaison for Louisiana SeaGrant at LSU, has become a believer in the app and is spreading the word among fishermen through Facebook and other social media.
Information on pending closures means mariners can alter their plans if need be to get to port ahead of a gate shutting them out.
The app also 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. They can get accurate information instead of hoping that whoever shared it with them got it right.”
Terrebonne Floodgate Mate reports to mariners by smartphones the status of the parish levee system’s floodgates.
