‘Town Hall’ meeting set to discuss Avoyelles Parish flooding

Residents of flood-prone areas in the parish are encouraged to attend a “Town Hall” meeting at the LSU/SU AgCenter in Mansura at 6 p.m. Friday (May 26).

The meeting is expected to focus on complaints about the perceived impact that work on La. Hwy 114 in Moreauville has had on flooding. However, other flood-prone areas may also be discussed.

“The purpose of the meeting is to address the flooding around the Moreauville Cutoff and to hear DOTD’s assessment of flooding problems in this parish,” Police Jury President Charles Jones said. “We will also discuss options to improve drainage and to explain efforts we will be taking.”

An unofficial “work group” of Avoyelles Parish, state Department of Transportation and Development and Red River-Atchafalaya-Bayou Boeuf Levee Board officials met May 10 to discuss recurring flood problems around the parish.

DOTD water resource engineer Brad Sticker and Levee Board Director Warren Berg and other parish and state officials are expected to attend the meeting to discuss the parish’s challenges in flood control. The meeting will include a Power Point presentation on causes and possible solutions to flood problems, Jones said.

Several residents in the Mansura-Moreauville area say the state made a sometimes bad situation chronically worse when it changed the path of La. Hwy 114 to intersect La. Hwy 1 in Moreauville. Residents allege the project changed the drainage patterns in the area.

A large part of Friday’s meeting is expected to consist of the state officials explaining why that is not the case. They may also be able to offer flood-weary residents an alternative culprit for their problems.

The police jurors who organized the meeting hope there are answers to citizens’ questions about the parish flood woes and that it will not merely be an airing of complaints, problems and blame that leave the parish no closer to understanding what is happening, why it is happening and what can be done to stop it from happening every time we get a significant rainfall.

WORKING TOGETHER

One thing that has already come out of “working group” meetings is a commitment from the Police Jury, DOTD and the Levee Board to work together to clear debris at bridges and culverts and improve the flow of water along major drainage arteries.

Jones said the Levee Board will be doing work on Mill Bayou in the near future.

Residents must understand that if the area is hit with a storm that dumps seven or eight inches of rain in two or three hours, “it will overwhelm the drainage capacity and there will be flooding,” Jones added. However, efforts will be increased to ensure the drainage systems are able to handle normal and even heavy rains that should not exceed those capacities.

“I hope the public will get a better understanding of what happened and that the parish, state and Levee Board are working together to come up with a plan,” Jones continued. “I hope it will be a productive meeting.”