Posted on February 8, 2018
By Rob Macko, KLFY.com
St. Martin Parish public works crews are digging out canals, coulees, and channels in some of the areas that flooded in 2016.
“If you were to come here in 2016 there were people with water in their homes, cars underwater,” said St. Martin Parish President Guy Cormier.
Cormier said six excavating machines are out every day. Most of the work is being done west of Bayou Teche. They’re clearing trees, branches, and debris to help the water flow.
Cormier said the canals and coulees west of the Bayou Teche drain into Cypress Island Swamp. Water from the swamp eventually ends up in the Vermilion River.
But this work is just a preview of what’s to come.
“This $25 million project that we are designing right now is the biggest drainage project we’ve ever done in the parish,” Cormier said.
St. Martin Parish voters approved the $25 million dollar project in late 2016. The parish took out a 20 year bond issue.
The parish will start by doing $15 million worth of work west of Bayou Teche. The second round of funding for $10 million will be used for dredging east of Bayou Teche.
“This is a good thing for St. Martin Parish and I’m excited that the taxpayers went to the polls and approved the measure so that we can do major drainage improvements,” Cormier said.
He said residents should see a difference after the work is done.
“On six and eight inch rainfalls we’re starting to have issues in places we never had before and that’s what we’re trying to address,” Cormier explained. “We’re trying to address those abnormal rainfalls but not those freak rainfalls of 20 to 30 inches.”
Cormier said the project is now in the planning and design stage. The work should begin this fall.
The parish has to get U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits to dredge larger channels.
Cormier said it will take three or four years to complete the project.
Source: KLFY.com
