Underwater

Streets close, water overtops levee

A 24-hour barrage of rain forced the closure of schools, businesses and roads across the parish and also caused the flooding of at least 35 homes on the West Bank.

In fact, some areas of the parish received over 11 inches of rain, which was an unprecedented record rainfall event for the month of December. Officials say the amount of rainfall the parish received on the West Bank in that 24-hour span also surpassed the amount received in the May, 8, 1995 flood.

That amount of rain forced water to overtop a 5-foot levee along River Ridge Drive in Boutte. St. Charles Parish employees, along with inmates from the jail, worked to sandbag three sections where the overtopping occurred, which ranged from 100 feet to 100 yards each.

Workers were eventually able to sandbag the sections after about five hours.

St. Charles Parish Public Works employees worked around the clock, from Monday morning on, clearing ditches and cleanouts, and were helped by the fact that all pumps remained operational throughout the rain event.

Public Works also gathered additional pumps for use in the Sunset Drainage District and sand was delivered to several distribution points throughout the parish.

Though many businesses were able to remain open on Tuesday, some were forced to close because of high water in parking lots. Juanita Landry, who co-owns the St. Charles Bingo Hall in Boutte, had to rope off the parking lot in front of her store with caution tape.

“The water is actually deeper than it looks,” Landry said. “Some of the areas are 3-feet deep.”

Deep water was also a problem at Boutte’s J&K Office Supply & Printing. Workers had to put sandbags in front of the door and use squeegees to push the water out of the building. Some of the water had even made its way to the back of the store.

The parking lot at Wal-Mart was also severely flooded close to the building, which forced customers to park away from the store then trudge through the water.

But store closures and home and parking lot flooding weren’t the only major inconvenience. Because several students were in the midst of their fall exams, the entire exam schedule was switched around. That means that some students will take exams  when they return from Christmas vacation on Jan. 4.

Though much of the water has receded, St. Charles Parish officials want the owners of any homes or businesses that flooded to notify them.