HURRICANE SEASON 2009 IN ST MARY PARISH

Flooding could once again be an issue for Franklin as well as West St. Mary residents who live along the Franklin and Hanson Canals, in the wake of any possible storms that approach St. Mary’s coast during the 2009 Hurricane Season.

Franklin Mayor Raymond Harris said levee protection against any possible storm surge that enters the Franklin Canal, which is located just seven miles away from the Gulf of Mexico, is now in “the hands of the Corps of Engineers.”

Last September, the lack of a flood gate over the Franklin Canal to keep away rising tides from the Gulf of Mexico, caused more than 1,000 homes in St. Mary Parish to take in water from Hurricane Ike’s surge along the St. Mary Parish coast. The impacted area stretched east to Garden City.

But that wasn’t the first time. State Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin), Harris’ predecessor who served as the city’s top boss for 22 years, said the problem surfaced first with Hurricane Lili, in Oct of 2002. “There was flooding on the streets. However, it was nothing like what happened in 2005 with Hurricane Rita, and last year with Hurricane Ike,” Jones said.

Prior to Ike’s impact on the coast, Harris and his staff took matters in their own
hands and led an effort to build a six foot levee along the Franklin Canal, in order to protect the residents who live to the east of Willow Street. However, due to the large seven ft surge from Ike, the levee failed and sent water to east of the canal. Also, loop holes in the levee caused from some landowners who refused to allow Harris to build the levee on their property, sent water west of the canal, into the Pecan Acres area of Franklin.

“Unless the Corps gives us permission, our hands are pretty much tied this year,” Harris said.

The Corps is now working on a temporary plan, which includes a 7-foot sheet pile levee from the canal northward to the Yokley levee.

The second phase of the plan include incorporating the temporary structure with the materials needed to close a 20 to 30 ft navigational opening the levee will have created, consisting of a set of gates that will connect both sides of the waterway, with a swing barge at the bottom.
Estimates on the project total $1.9 million. So far, the levee district has about $1 million in its coffers.

The project was somewhat of a standstill, waiting on the U.S. Corps of Engineers who want to conduct a soil boring analysis of the Franklin Canal area, to determine whether sheet piling will be sturdy enough to keep away rising storm surge waters.

As to whether or not the project will be finished this year, Jones said “I believe they are aggressively moving. It’s going to be close.”

Duval Arthur, however, disagrees.

Arthur, the parish director of emergency preparedness and homeland security, said he believes that this year, “there will be nothing in place to stop the water from coming into the parish, because the Corps will not yet have finished the temporary project.”

“And if we get a 12ft storm surge along the coast, there is going to be a lot of water coming in the parish, because the canal is only 7 miles from the gulf, unlike Morgan City, which is about 23 miles,” Arthur said.

But while some of the outlook could be grim for some Franklin residents, Arthur said he feels St. Mary Parish is better prepared in 2009 than what it was in 2008.

“Last year, things fell apart when it came to evacuating the parish- we had only two buses for transportation. This year, we have contracted 10 to 14 coach buses for any possible evacuation, which will include handicapped transportation,” Arthur said.

In 2008, the parish evacuated 890 people, and 12 dogs and 1 parakeet. The people were shipped to Alexandria, where this year, Arthur said will once again plans are once again in the works for that city to serve as the evacuation center for St. Mary Parish.

Arthur said buses will pick up persons with no transportation at: Morgan City Jr. High, Patterson Jr. High, the School Board Office in Centerville and at West St. Mary High School.

He said that St. Mary Community Action will provide the bus pick-up transportation to the five sites throughout the parish, with the coach buses leaving for Alexandria destination.
Arthur said that he parish has also met with the East St. Mary Parish Ministerial Alliance to provide post storm recovery, which will include food, water and ice distribution should a storm impact the area.