Calm morning turns frantic as tide rises, roads flood, evacuation advised
Tropical Storm Cindy wasn’t done with Jean Lafitte. Hours after the storm came ashore some 200 miles to the west, high winds and a high tide conspired Thursday (June 22) to push water into communities in lower Jefferson Parish.
Jean Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner advised residents to evacuate before the highway became impassable and the area’s small and incomplete levee system was pushed apart or topped by rising water.
By 2 p.m., much of the narrow strip of land between Jean Lafitte and unincorporated Lower Lafitte was covered in two feet of water. A few pickup trucks loaded with children and grandparents slowly forded Jean Lafitte Boulevard, the only road out of an area with about 1,400 residents.
« I thought we had seen the worst of this storm, » Kerner said. « Then it all went to s—, and the water kept coming up. »
Kerner plowed his truck through the water to get to flooded parts of Lower Lafitte. He checked several known weak spots in the levee and called in crews – mostly volunteers – to toss sandbags on the problems.
« That water won’t quit, » he said, pointing across Bayou Barataria. « Look at the whitecaps. That’s what I don’t want to see. »
Between a line of fishing boats and several small houses, the hip-high levee bulged like a balloon. A dozen men heaped sandbags around a breach.
Lawrence Perrin lives in an old house a few feet away. Despite the evacuation advisory, he said he would stay.
« All my family left, but I got to stay and tend the vessels, » he said. The extended family has six fishing and shrimping boats.
Perrin’s house has flooded three times. « I lost everything each time, » he said. « I put all my money in it, so I can’t go any other place. »
Many Lower Lafitte residents hadn’t heard about the evacuation. One man was mowing a lawn a few yards from where waves lapped at the levee’s top.
« Look at that guy cutting grass, » Kerner said. « People feel too confident. They don’t know what’s in store. »
Kerner, who has been mayor for almost 20 years, last called an evacuation during Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. Of the 8,000 people in the Jean Lafitte area, he estimated about half might be in danger of severe flooding this week. Along with Lower Lafitte, levee trouble and flooding was reported in Barataria and Crown Point. A new section of taller, fortified levee in the central part of Jean Lafitte was holding up well.
The mayor has been lobbying for state money to expand and improve the levee system. « We’re going to have to suffer like this for a few years till we get that levee built, » he said.
Power outages, flooded vehicles and people trapped in their houses remain concerns. Kerner said the town’s next step is to begin setting up emergency shelters to the north, likely in Marrero, and organize transportation and food for the evacuees.
A mandatory evacuation would be issued if waters top the levee. « For that, we’ve got about six inches to go, » Kerner said in late afternoon.
