8-16-16
GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS DID A FLY OVER TOUR OF ACADIANA ON MONDAY TO SEE DESTRUCTION LEFT BEHIND BY THE FLOODING. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
VOICER K :47
THE RISING OF THE MERMENTAU RIVER IN CROWLEY HAS FORCED THE CLOSURE OF A 68 MILE STRETCH OF INTERSTATE TEN BETWEEN I-49 AND THE HIGHWAY 165 EXIT IN IOWA. FLOODWATERS HAVE COVERED A MAJOR PART OF CROWLEY AND POLICE CHIEF JIMMY BROUSSARD HAS ASKED FOR HELP FROM THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RED CROSS. THE MERMENTAU IS SUPPOSED TO CREST AT ELEVEN-AND-A-HALF FEET ON THURSDAY, LEVELS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN REACHED SINCE THE 1950’S. BROUSSARD IS URGING RESIDENTS WHO DO NOT HAVE WATER IN THEIR HOMES TO STAY THERE AND FOR THOSE WHO NEED ASSISTANCE TO CALL 9-1-1 OR THE CROWLEY POLICE DEPARTMENT. ACADIA PARISH POLICE JUROR DAVID SAVOY SAYS THE BIGGEST COMPLAINT HE’S HEARD IS ABOUT PEOPLE DRIVING THROUGH WATER TOO FAST, CAUSING WAKES THAT PUSH WATER INTO HOMES. ACADIA PARISH SHERIFF K-P GIBSON SAYS DURING OVER THE WEEKEND, MORE THAN A THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THE PARISH HAD TO BE RESCUED. IN VERMILLION PARISH, MUCH OF THE ROADS WERE UNDER WATER AND IMPASSABLE. CHIEF DEPUTY KIRK J. FIRTH SAYS THEY ARE KEEPING FOUR LANES OF HIGHWAY 167 OPEN FOR NORTHBOUND TRAVEL ONLY. HE SAYS SOME SECTIONS OF HIGHWAY 14 ARE UNDER TWENTY INCHES OF WATER INCLUDING IN DELCAMBRE AND ERATH, AND NEAR L-A 343 IN KAPLAN.
A MAJOR SANDBAGGING EFFORT BY THE NATIONAL GUARD, VOLUNTEERS AND OTHERS KEPT SEVERAL DOZEN HOMES ALONG SURREY STREET IN LAFAYETTE FROM BEING FLOODED BY THE VERMILLION RIVER. LAFAYETTE MAYOR PRESIDENT JOEL ROBIDEAUX, WHO VISITED THE SITE, SAYS IT BECAME A REAL ISSUE LATE SUNDAY NIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY. HE SAYS A TWENTY FOOT CITY-OWNED LEVEE APPEARED TO BE PARTIALLY SUNKEN. FLOODWATERS THAT BREACHED THE LEVEE DAMAGED THE VERMILLIONVILLE LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM AND FOLKLIFE PARK. THE FACILITY MAY BE CLOSED FOR TWO WEEKS. SHERIFF’S OFFICE SPOKESPERSON JOHN MOWELL SAYS THEY RECEIVED MORE THAN A THOUSAND CALLS OVER A 48 HOUR PERIOD ASKING FOR HELP OR RESCUE. THAT INCLUDED ABOUT A DOZEN DEPUTIES WHO HAD TO BE RESCUED ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIES BEFORE THEY SUITED UP AND JOINED IN THE WORK. HE SAYS RESCUE EFFORTS WERE CONTINUING YESTERDAY ALONG THE ST. MARTIN PARISH LINE WHERE RESIDENTS WERE PREPARING FOR BACKWATER FLOODING.
WAYNE AND LAYNES IN CARLYSS IS HOPING TO FILL TWO 18-WHEELERS WITH ITEMS TO HELP FLOOD VICTIMS. IF YOU’D LIKE TO DROP OFF ITEMS, SUCH AS WTER, BABY SUPPLIES, NON-PERISHABLE FOODS, AND MORE, THEY ARE ACCEPTING DONATIONS BETWEEN EIGHT AND ELEVEN THIS MORNING. THE OWNER OF ECO ENTERPRISES IN MOSS BLUFF IS ALSO COLLECTING SUPPLIES TO DELIVER TO FLOOD VICTIMS IN THE BATON ROUGE AREA. DONATIONS CAN BE MADE AT ECO ENTERPRISES, WHICH IS LOCATED AT 407 SAM HOUSTON JONES PARKWAY IN MOSS BLUFF.
Authorities say a southwest Louisiana police officer has died, six days after he was hit by a car at a traffic stop. Police in the Jefferson Davis Parish village of Fenton tell KPLC-TV that Officer Shannon Brown died Saturday. Louisiana State Police said Brown was standing between his car and a vehicle he’d pulled over on Aug. 7, when another car hit his car from behind. Sgt. James Anderson says the driver who hit Boudreaux’s patrol car was arrested on a charge of failing to move over for an emergency vehicle.
