Residents cleaning up

St. Martin Parish officials and agencies, along with hundreds of home and business owners, are busy this week coping with the aftermath of the drenching rains that left large swaths of the parish under debris-laden floodwaters earlier this month.
More than a week after the storm dumped more than two feet of rain across south Louisiana, swollen bayous and drainage canals were slowly starting to fall despite occasional thunderstorms that still pelted isolated areas of the parish.
Parish President Guy Cormier has made numerous helicopter flights over the parish as well as piloting his small fishing boat down canals from La. 353/Cypress Island Hwy south all the way through the Joe Daigre Canal to its junction with Bayou Teche below Keystone Locks. He reported Monday that the canals were free of obstructions and were carrying the backwater flood into the Teche.
“They were designed to do this, but they weren’t designed to handle what many are calling a 1000-year rain,” he observed.
Cormier estimated it might take as long as another two weeks for all flooded areas of the parish to dry out.
“But that’s provided we don’t get a lot more rain,” he cautioned.
Data collected by the Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Operations and other agencies indicate that at least 500 homes and about 30 businesses have suffered some extent of flood damage.
Cormier estimated that as of Monday about half of those were still flooded.
On his flights, Cormier observed that much of the parish from the Sawmill Road just north of La. 353/Mills Hwy, south to the Iberia Parish line, immediately to the west of Breaux Bridge, Parks and St. Martinville resembled one big lake as Lake Martin, the Cypress Island Swamp and Spanish Lake overflowed their normal confines.
The parish has been declared a federal disaster area, opening the way for a variety of FEMA assistance.
Cormier issued an executive order on Monday temporarily waiving parish fees for building permits and/or reconstruction work during the recovery period.
He also said he expects to sign an emergency contract with private firms to begin the collection of debris along parish roadways as early as Monday, Aug. 29.
“The collection will continue after Labor Day and will likely take around 20 days to complete,” he said.
Cormier expressed his appreciation to members of the Parish Council and the Sheriff’s Office for all the efforts they have put into assisting residents during the emergency.
“While many of our people have suffered substantial losses, we are thankful there was no loss of life,” he said.