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The federal government declared a state of emergency for the past month in Terrebonne Parish, which could line the parish up for a refund on money spent during the emergency.
President Obama signed FEMA’s declaration yesterday, which declared the period from Dec. 28, 2015, to Feb. 1, 2016, an emergency. The declaration covers seven parishes affected by flooding during that period, including St. Mary and Terrebonne.
The action makes federal emergency aid available to the state to supplement local efforts made in response to flooding during the last month. The federal government will pay for up to 75 percent of the costs of those actions taken in the area.
Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove estimated that Terrebonne has spent about $3 million in flooding response efforts. He said that the federal declaration is good news as it confirms the parish will get its refund.
“Really, I’m elated that we were able to get FEMA money. We pretty much had a verbal commitment from the state that they would work with us. But this solidifies that we’re definitely going to get 75 percent of our money back,” Dove said.
Terrebonne declared its own state of emergency on Jan. 4 due to rising water levels in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers that threatened the Bayou Black/Gibson area with flooding. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at one point projected the Mississippi’s levels to surpass 57 feet and its flow to be greater than 1.5 million cubic feet per second, the threshold to open the Morganza spillway. However, the levels never reached that height, and the Morganza stayed closed.
Terrebonne still experienced high water levels over the last month and has taken measures to alleviate flooding problems. Terrebonne assisted St. Mary in placing a barge in Bayou Chene on the border of the two parishes. Dove said that the barge has prevented further flooding in the parish.
“It’s held back 15 inches of water that would have moved to us. We’ve got a high water level right now in Terrebonne. And you put another 15 inches on top of it, you would have had some more problems,” Dove said.
Terrebonne is still under a parish-wide state of emergency, which Dove expects to last for another 30 to 45 days as the Corps monitors what effects the melting snow up north will have on the Mississippi’s levels downstream.
The state of emergency has also allowed parish workers to commandeer right-of-ways, which they have used to build up levees in the Bayou Black/Gibson area. Dove said Terrebonne is working on 11 or 12 miles of levees and getting them to at least five feet, with some parts reaching seven feet. The parish has been splitting the costs of these levees with the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District, which will also be refunded through federal emergency aid.
Dove said the levees are an example of the parish taking full advantage of this current state of emergency.
“That kind of gives us a jump on the next hurricane season,” he said.
The levees in Bayou Black and Gibson are part of the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system, so construction on them was inevitable. Dove said that this federal action means the parish can save money on one of its most critical projects.
“It’s a good opportunity for the federal government to pay for 75 percent of future Morganza [levees]. We’re squeezing as much as we can out of that,” Dove said. •
