Breaux Bidge Mayor Ricky Calais reports that 15 homes in the city flooded following an unusually heavy rain on June 6.
The event was discussed during the June 10 city council meeting, and it turns out that two council members were among the victims. The residential flooding affected homes in several scattered neighborhoods around town. As much as 11.3 inches of rainfall was measured over a four-hour period,
overwhelming many drainage outlets.
“In this case, there didn’t seem to have been any serious drainage issues involved,” Calais told the Teche News. “Most of the water ran off in a very short time after the rain stopped.”
Such extreme rain events are becoming more frequent, and councilman Neil “Sam” Melancon, who, along with Earnest “EJ” Ledet, was one of the unlucky homeowners, said area residents have to adjust to the new reality. “These higher rains are going to continue. We need to keep improving drainage when we can and focus on what we can do better.”
Ledet commented that he had just completed three years of remodeling work and celebrated the occasion with water on his new floors.
The Crawfish Capital joined the town of Henderson in bearing the worst of the flooding problems this time around.
On a more positive note, some long-awaited road improvements are nearing completion. The council approved acceptance of the Dorset Street widening project, as well as the Hillier Road/Kelly Drive water service extension. Short punch lists are all that remain to be addressed by the contractors.
Both the water line relocation along Berard Street and the Armentine Cove road reconstruction projects are now nearing completion and work has begun on the Rue La Belle reconstruction.
The Martin Street sidewalk addition is expected to be ready for bidding in late June or early July.
Drainage improvement projects in the Baldwin Street and Hollier Road areas are proceeding through the design and planning phase.
Contractor Permits
The council approved an ordinance requiring outside utility contractors to obtain permits before any work in city rights-of-way. The mea-
sure is intended to en-
sure that the city is aware of work being done and does not interfere with city utility work.
Budget Cut-Backs Finally, Calais reported that several planned public works improvements had to be scaled back to bring the city budget into balance. He and council members reiterated the need for the penny sales tax increase recently proposed. The city’s sales tax has been set at one cent since 1972.
