Lafourche Parish preps ahead of potential flooding

LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. (WGNO) — As the threat of possible flooding continues along the Louisiana coast, Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson says crews have been working around the clock to make sure the parish’s drainage system is ready for heavy rain.

“Public works crews have been out for a few days, kind of just in advance of this stuff, making sure that all of our outfall canals were cleaned, our pump stations were up and running,” said Chaisson.

Chaisson went on to say that residents should be prepared for possible street flooding and power outages associated with severe weather.

According to Chaisson, the pumps can only take an inch in the first hour and a half of an inch every hour after that. So, it’s important that canals and drainage ditches remain clear and that you stay off the road if you can.

“If we get one of these torrential downpours where it may be hard to delineate the road from the ditch, just be careful. We don’t want garbage cans or anything loose in your yard blowing into our drainage system, and causing an issue somewhere. We could lose power from the storm event, but just from a freak accident happening,” said Chaisson.

Residents remain optimistic, but aren’t letting their guard down filling sandbags, just in case the water starts to rise.

“I’m not worried about it. It’s not big like the other ones. I got a couple of things, but we need the sandbags because we have low areas, and we don’t need the water back in our house,” said a Lafourche Parish resident.

“Continue to get your game plan together. Pack that go-bag with food, water and medicine in case something does pop up later on in the hurricane season, when we get to the bigger part of it, the more intense part of it,” said Chaisson.

Chaisson is asking all residents to stay up to date on what’s happening by visiting their social media pages or signing up for emergency alerts at lafourchegov.org.

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