Stephensville takes cover from Atchafalaya

Classes maybe out for the summer at Stephensville Elementary School, but an Aqua Dam Flood Control System is standing guard, keeping a watchful eye for backwater flooding.

The system was donated by Abbeville businessman Larry Campisi, president of GulfRim, and Dave Doolaege, president of Aqua Dam Inc., of Scotia, Calif. Campisi’s firm is a Louisiana distributor for Aqua Dam, a flexible, multi-chamber tube system designed to fight rising water. The system is credited with saving properties in the U.S., Canada, Romania and Europe, according to the two men.

“We’re happy to provide a trustworthy system to help protect the assets and property of this fine community,” Campisi said. “Saving a school is insuring Louisiana’s future.”

“When unwanted water and floods threaten lives and infrastructure, we want to help,” Dooleage said. “Helping the children and families of Stephensville Elementary School is our gift to the area at this most trying and awful time.”

The elementary school’s principal, Dr. Dan Rawls, said the tubes, filled with approximately 850,000 gallons of water, are protecting 161 classrooms, which house pre-school students through eighth graders.

“These two guys just called me out of the blue and said they wanted to help,” Rawls explained. “I’m expecting three, maybe four feet [of backwater flooding] here.”

The Aqua Dam surrounds the school’s perimeter. It is necessary to prevent backwater from Bayou Melon and Lake Palourde, both expected to overflow as the Mississippi River continues to dump water into the Atchafalaya and Morganza spillways.

The school is also expected to be protected by sheet piling. It is part of Morgan City’s levee system.

Stephensville is located about five minutes north of Morgan City, and is an unincorporated part of neighboring St. Martin Parish.

The area is occupied by a combination of middle-class homes and fishing camps.

Stephensville takes cover from Atchafalaya