Viral post claims gaps in Montegut levee; Terrebonne officials say that’s not the case

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A locally viral post on Facebook contains pictures of the levee system in the Montegut area and says sections are “completely cut out.” 

 

However, Terrebonne Parish officials are saying there are no breaches in the system. 


 

“There has been rumors and photographs posted on Facebook showing breaches in the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District’s Morganza to the Gulf levee system in the Montegut area,” reads a statement by the Terrebonne Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (TOHSEP). 

 

The post continued: “The TLCD levee in Montegut was recently inspected and there are no breaches in the levee. The J2 reach of the levee system is built to a minimum height of 9.5 feet, which is higher than the height during Hurricane Barry in 2019.” 

 

Reggie Dupre Jr., Executive Director of the Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District (TLCD), echoed those sentiments. 


 

“I think I saw one picture: the guy’s standing up and you got about five foot of dirt behind him,” he said. “He’s standing on a berm, which is already about five and a half to six foot above sea level. So if you add the height of the dirt plus that — that’s 10 feet or more.” 

 

Dupre went on to explain that the J2 is a five-mile stretch between Montegut and Pointe-aux-Chenes. Last year for Hurricane Barry, he said, J2 was in the early stages of construction.

 

“The average height of J2 at that time was about a seven [feet]. We had a 9-foot tidal surge. We had overtopping for most of it, but we had no breaches at the time,” Dupre continued. “We’ve been concentrating on building the foundation of the levee. If you build a very high, steep levee, it’s gonna fail for a storm…The minimum height, which is still under construction, height is 9 feet above sea level.” 


 

The J2 is “much, much better” than it was a year ago, Dupre said, and by next year it will be all be 12 feet. He also noted that J2 started as the “Montegut Marsh Management Levee” eight years ago and was 3 feet high and 20 feet wide at the base, and today it’s 9-plus feet high and nearly 200 feet wide.” 

 

Dupre added that he is “very confident” in the system for this weather event, after noting the redundant levees in the area as well for additional protection. 

 

He also touched on where the confusion from the photos on Facebook comes from. “To build the J2 levy, the contractors have to degrade a section of it, 500-foot sections, so that they can push out and build the outside berm and put rocks in because you can’t pull dump trucks full of rocks of dirt on top of a big steep hill like that. You’ll flip it over; it’s impossible,” Dupre said. 


 

“Before we closed back the gap for this storm, somebody took a picture before the contractor closed it up. It all has been closed up.” the Pointe-aux-Chenes naive continued. “I don’t put very much credence in social media and conspiracy theories. I know what we’ve built, and I know it is in much better shape. And every year we are in better shape.” 

 

Photo from Brandon Hebert’s post.