Bill Ellzey: The show goes on despite Wednesday's stormy weather
How about that storm system that ruffled much of south Louisiana last week? Wasn't Ida enough to remind us of the power of Mother Nature?
No additional damage at our house, but the dangerous, windy downpour predicted for Wednesday night persuaded Director Mary LeBoeuf to close all of the Terrebonne's library system's branches early.
A special music program in the Main Branch meeting room was NOT canceled, however. Singer-historian Bobby Horton had come from his Birmingham, Alabama, home to perform songs of the Civil War, and a handful of locals braved the weather to attend.
A much larger crowd had been expected, but there was no way to remind the public that the show would go on as scheduled. Horton's low-key delivery of Yankee and Rebel music from the 1860's, along with instructive backstory explanations, was well worth ignoring the storm.
Friends support: Horton's Civil War presentation is among the programs added to the library's many other services with support from the Friends of the Terrebonne Public Library. Money for these programs is raised at the periodic used book sales held by the Friends.
Infrastructure? Virtually all the roadways in coastal Louisiana are paved. They have to be; much of our “land” is so near being marsh that no vehicle as heavy as a bicycle could pass without sinking.
Bill Ellzey: The long road to recovery from Hurricane Ida continues
Our most substantial lands are the “ridges” alongside our bayous, or where bayous once ran. Those bayous, in times long past, were filled with muddy Mississippi River floodwaters spilling over from increasingly smaller streams.
When the floods subsided, the sandy silt they carried was left behind, creating our ridges.
Any roadway that ventures off a ridge must have something substantial — shells, gravel, sand, earth — hauled in to build a foundation for a road capable of supporting vehicular traffic.
The damage Ida did to our highways often remains unrepaired. Road signs have been blown over or twisted so their original intended message faces the wrong way or is invisible to drivers. What happens when a driver unfamiliar with a route drives through an intersection where he should have stopped? And school zones and other risky driving stretches may have lost their speed limit warnings.
The constant buffeting winds often result in the bolts fastening signs to their poles literally unscrewing themselves so a sign hangs upside down.
So many repairs are needed that the earthen edges of concrete road slabs have been worn or washed away leaving elongated potholes as much as a foot deep. Any driver forced to that edge by oncoming traffic may drop tires into that giant rut and damage axles or undercarriage. The problem is especially bad at corners where deep potholes abound.
Who fixes? Some infrastructure needing repairs is the responsibility of the state highway department; but the parish government has the job of restoring signs and surfaces along parish roads. And who should fix the cavities where residential or business driveways meet a highway depends.
Homeowners rarely have the equipment or resources to make repairs. So contact your nearest elected official and be patient.
Responding? Contact Bill Ellzey at (985) 381-6256, ellzey@viscom.net, billellzey312@gmail.com or Bill Ellzey, 312 Bellaire Drive, Houma, LA 70360.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Bill Ellzey: The show goes on despite Wednesday's stormy weather
