Warning issued in Terrebonne on sandbagging scam

With every threat of a disaster come swindlers working to take advantage of the vulnerable. Such a situation was exposed last Wednesday when Terrebonne Parish Councilwoman Arlanda Williams announced that concerns about backwater flooding from the Atchafalaya River has attracted scammers who are placing fears in the minds of residents for a price.

“I want to remind residents of the Gibson area that they should not let their guard down,” Williams said during the regular parish council meeting.

Williams revealed that she had received approximately 25 calls from residents regarding scammers in the parish’s 2nd District which she represents.

“There has been a nasty rumor that has circled the Gibson area that if you do not place sandbags around your home that FEMA will not provide assistance if there [is] a disaster and that you have to pay someone to come to your house and charge you to place sandbags,” she said. “First of all, that person is, to me, sicker than I can think of because this is a time that everyone should be working together.”

Williams said if residents are approached by persons claiming they can place sandbags around structures for a price, property owners should notify the Terrebonne Sheriff’s Office of the fraud at 876-2500.

In connection with the backwater flood fight, Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet noted during the announcement portion of the evening’s short agenda of standard business that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had begun closing bays on the Morganza Spillway.

The Morganza structure had been opened May 14 to ease flood waters from the Mississippi River by sending currents down the Atchafalaya Basin. “This is good news for us,” Claudet said. “The salvation to our area, we all believe, is the Bayou Chene [barge] structure and it is a difference in water level from the front to the back in excess of 2 feet right now. I think that is a wonderful thing.”

Claudet said that residents should remain vigilant regarding flood preparedness but added that many elements are working in favor of Terrebonne Parish.

Williams credited neighbors in Assumption Parish for “stepping up to the plate” during the flood crisis. “They sent us 5,000 sandbags [as] they face the same possible devastation that we are facing,” she said. “Everybody is trying to help everybody in this time that could be. [I] want to say publicly, ‘Thank you’ to the Assumption Parish government.”

Among committee reports, an adopted and passed add-on agenda item called for 100 percent reimbursement from FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Coastal Emergency programs for all preparation and recovery costs incurred by Terrebonne Parish in the placement of protection measures, equipment and manpower to fight pending floodwaters resulting from the Morganza Spillway opening.

The resolution, presented by the Public Service Committee, specified that probable flooding would be the result of man-made conditions that placed an undue burden on the residents and government of Terrebonne Parish. It has not yet been determined how much the parish might end up spending before the backwater flood threat has receded.