'There are no guarantees': Parish tried to alleviate flooding issues in north St. Landry. Will it last?

Bobby Ardoin
·3 min read

Portions of the Whiteville-area farming community might have fewer worries this week as tropical rainfall totals in St. Landry Parish are expected to increase.

That wasn’t the case earlier this month as nearly 7 inches of rain inundated agricultural fields during a short period of time and the rising water that barreled over La. 182, eventually endangered homes.

Now after the quick completion of a $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project, flooding issues that routinely threatened rural residences have been potentially abated until more assistance is received from state sources, according to St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard.

“There are no guarantees, but people in around Whiteville should feel a little better as we expect more rain during the next week or so,” said Bellard. “We’ve done what we could, which is digging out two downstream laterals. We have requested assistance for a larger culvert that runs underneath (La. 182).”

A $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project may have helped to alleviate flooding issues that plagued rural residences.
A $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project may have helped to alleviate flooding issues that plagued rural residences.

Bellard and Van Reed, director of emergency preparedness for the parish, visited the previously flooded area Aug. 7 immediately following another round of water collection.

“The people living in the houses around there had already put up sandbags that helped keep the water out,” Bellard added, “and the farmers who lived nearby were on the road taking care of things as best they could, pumping water off and into ditches that hadn’t flooded.”

However Bellard said he realized more assistance involving parish government financing and contracted heavy equipment were needed.

“We got two excavators out there. One almost came immediately and the other followed up soon and they were digging out these laterals in which water for years had been collecting and overflowing, getting in the houses and onto the highway,” Bellard said.

A $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project may have helped to alleviate flooding issues that plagued rural residences.
A $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project may have helped to alleviate flooding issues that plagued rural residences.

Parish Council member Harold Taylor, whose election district includes the Whiteville community, said flooding in that northern end of St. Landry has been frequent.

“It’s been a problem for quite a while. We contacted state lawmakers who represented the area previously about the flooding issues and doing something with the laterals, but nothing was done. When there was a lot of rain, water collected and flooded. It was obvious those laterals needed to be dealt with,” Taylor said Friday in a phone interview..

Taylor said he and council member Wayne Ardoin visited Whiteville while the lateral-clearing project was in progress.

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“They (the contractors) were taking a lot of stuff out of those laterals. They were severely clogged. I saw them pick up logs that were eight inches in diameter and take them out (of) the water,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the entire expense for the lateral cleaning was assumed by parish government.

“Whiteville does not have a drainage district,” said Taylor. “It’s been that way for a long time after the (drainage district tax) that represented that area was removed.”

Bayou Boeuf, which flows southward into St. Landry from Rapides and Avoyelles parishes, sits nearby, but Bellard doesn’t think water from the bayou has created the ongoing problem with the Whiteville flooding.

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“The engineers and the people in Whiteville agree that the flooding is part of the natural water flow that happens in the area. Water has been gathering from the high side of the road to the low side for several years due to the condition of those laterals,” said Bellard.

Bellard added that what remains to be done for improved flood alleviation is for the state to provide funding and contractors to install a larger culvert under La. 182 near where that road adjoins La. 29.

A $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project may have helped to alleviate flooding issues that plagued rural residences.
A $52,000 St. Landry Parish government-funded lateral draining project may have helped to alleviate flooding issues that plagued rural residences.

“The culvert that’s there now is 30-inches in diameter and what (engineers) think is better is a 36-inch culvert that will create even better water distribution now that the culverts have been cleaned,” Bellard said.

This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: St. Landry Parish working to help stop flooding in Whiteville area