Parts of parish flooded during Barry
The east side of Vermilion Parish got the worst of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Barry.
While Abbeville, Maurice, Gueydan, and Kaplan were spared flooding, that can not be said about the communities of Henry, Intracoastal City, Delcambre and south of Erath.
Those four areas were underwater early Sunday morning due to three to six-foot storm surge caused by Barry.
Police Jury President Kevin Sagrera said, “The low lying areas on the coast had surge issues from Delcambre to Intracoastal City. There will be some water damage to crops and pasture lands. So we will have to address those issues. We have kept in contact with all of the municipalities and will help assist in anyway we can .”
Intracoastal City and Henry were hit the hardest with floodwaters. Businesses and homes were hit with at least a 12 to 18 inches of water.
South of Erath near the gas plant also had a foot of water. At least three homes south of Erath flooded.
In Delcambre, the storm surge caused significant flooding in the streets and homes. At least five homes were flooded.
By Monday afternoon, the water began flowing south, and many more streets became passable.
Becky Broussard, the Office of Emergency Preparation Director (OEP), said she spent Monday surveying the damage of the parish.
“We are trying to find out today how many homes had flood damage,” said Broussard. “If your home had water, we want to know.”
Broussard said to call her office (898-4308) to report flooded home damage so her office can inform FEMA.
Erath had flooded streets due to the storm surge. However, the 50 miles to 60 miles per hour winds caused the electricity to go out in the town. Parts of Erath were without power for 12 hours. By Sunday evening, the town’s electricity was up and running.
Farmers in Vermilion Parish heaved the warnings of a possible surge by moving their horses and cattle before the storm. According to LSU Ag Agent, Andrew Granger, most of the cattle and horses were moved to higher ground before the storm surge. On Monday, however, the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office spent the morning rounding up stray cattle in the Intracoastal City area.
Flooded sugar cane fields will not ruin the sugar cane crop in those flooded areas, said Granger. The farmers’ biggest worry is what kind of junk did the floodwaters bring into the fields.
For hurricane Rita and Lili, farmers located tires, butane bottles, wood and other items that floated into their fields, making it dangerous to cut.
