Flood damage in millions of dollars

Damage from flooding in St. Landry Parish may cost millions of dollars, Parish President Bill Fontenot estimated Wednesday.
More than 500 homes were flooded in the parish during a 20-inch deluge of rain that started Friday and ended Saturday evening.
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot said more than 200 houses were flooded here.
“It happened so fast,” he said.
“By 3 a.m. when I woke up I saw water on Park Avenue, which I’ve never seen before,” he said.
The parish president said up to 100 businesses were flooded in the parish, but the damage assessment was still underway Wednesday morning.
Adding to the damage to residences and businesses, farmers had crops in the field, he said.
While the property damage was massive, no official is reporting any injuries or deaths in St. Landry Parish from the widespread flooding.
State officials are reporting 11 people killed, 40,000 homes damaged and more than 30,000 rescue since Friday.
Twenty parishes have received a federal disaster declaration.
As of Wednesday, about 60,000 people have signed up for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Scott Fontenot said when he and Police Chief Randy Fontenot met at City Hall about 4 a.m. Saturday one of their first moves was find a shelter for flood victims.
Eunice police, firefighters and volunteers would make about 200 rescues Saturday as floodwaters filled every drainage area in the city.
A command post was set up at the fire department building on Park Avenue across from the Eunice Municipal Complex, where flood victims were assembling in the lobby.
The gymnasium at LSUE was first considered, but by 8 a.m. Word Ministries in the old Walmart building was used as a shelter.
Rev. Caleb Semien said the shelter population peaked at 117. Alderman “Nootsie” Sattler lined up school buses to transport people to the shelter.
Robert Johnson, a deputy city marshal, organized the process of documenting people as they arrived at the shelter, Fontenot said.
“I didn’t have a chance to ride around,” the mayor said, “There was water in front of the fire department and (La.) 13 here was full from Park Avenue to Pierre Guidry. The only part that was dry was by the track.”
City crews were called out to remove debris and clean out drainage areas.
The Red Cross and two high-water National Guard trucks arrived Saturday to assist in the city.
Fire and Guard trucks were used in rescues in the city and into Acadia Parish, he said.
Bill Fontenot said there were up to 300 rescues in the parish, which included people in vehicles, he said.
A shelter was set up at the Opelousas Civic Center where about 100 people remained Wednesday. The shelter began with about 30, but gradually added numbers as the flooding spread.
“A lot of high water on roads and in places that really historically had never been before because people have lived in some of their homes 50 years and had some flooding,” he said.
The parish tourism center on Interstate 49 flooded with up to two feet, he said. Businesses in that area, which includes two trucks, also were flooded.
The rest area on Interstate 49 in north St. Landry Parish also flooded, he said.
Plaisance Elementary flooded, said Supt. Edward Brown.
“I think all in all we are faring well,” Fontenot said. “Streams are going down except, I think, Bayou des Cannes might be up quite bit in the Eunice area.”
The least affected area was the northeast corner of the parish, he said.
But there were calls from Melville to Krotz Springs, he said.
The rain became intense north of U.S. 190 and caused the highway to be closed along with U.S. 167 from Opelousas to Ville Platte.
On Wednesday morning, many parish roads remained closed. There have been some washouts of gravel roads, he said.
“We actually ran out of signs — high water signs,” he said.
No bridges were lost to the flooding. “Our bridges are in pretty good shape,” he said.
There were also more than 100 animal rescues, he said.
Maj. Eddie Thibodeaux of the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office said there no major incidents during the flooding involving deputies.
“The road closures delayed response time due to the roads being flood. The patrol set priorities in handling complaints with saving lives as the No. 1 priority. Normal everyday complaints continued to come in and was handled according to the seriousness of the call. We have no reports of injuries or loss of vehicles.
“The Search and Rescue Team along with extra patrol deputies rescued 300 to 350 families and recovered about 50 vehicles,” he said in an email.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s deputies were sent to assist in the Baton Rouge area.
Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot noted police were spared from dealing with any major issues other than flooding.
The number of complaints called into police dropped over the weekend.
“Most people sheltered in place,” he said.
There was a curfew in Eunice from noon Saturday to 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
The mayor said Walmart, Winn Dixie and Eunice Superette helped the supply needs during the flooding. Walmart provided food for city inmates.