ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY) — With flooding being a constant concern in many parts of St. Landry Parish, any time severe weather is predicted, Parish President Jesse Ballard says preparation and a proactive approach is always key, no matter how severe the storm predictions may be.

“It takes time, and it takes a lot of energy, and a lot of money to do this,” said Bellard.

Bellard says the parish spends nearly $2 million each year on drainage to clear roadside areas, canals and other drainage ways across the parish; making sure the debris is removed from the areas ahead of time before more debris comes in the next storm.

Along with these efforts, Bellard says Parish Government has been hard at work cleaning out bayous that can easily overflow.

“It also gives us an understanding of what’s needed to be done.” Bellard says. “So, this year, we applied for some money to get Bayou Des Canne, have a study done on that one, to better understand where the water goes, how it goes, and what needs to be done in order to fix the problem.”

With the canals across the parish feeding into the bayous and water from other parishes also flowing into St. Landry Parish, Bellard says the efforts to keep residents safe are never ending.

“We’re digging ditches, we clean the canals, and we’re trying to clean bayous to get that water away from us,” Bellard said. “But a lot of debris comes down and we do what we got to do to clean it. But it’s just it’s never ending and will never end. And we and we realize that. But we want to make sure that we don’t stop making the effort to keep it clean.”

Along with the strong game plan for when storms are approaching, Ballard also expresses his confidence in the road crews within the parish government, who are extremely experienced at this and are always ready to go.

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