Clean-up and repairs continue following this year’s Red River flooding that hit parts of Rapides Parish pretty hard.
You’ll remember, as flood waters crept over the banks
of the river, about a dozen roads in the parish were underwater.
News Channel 5’s Brooke Buford caught up with the Red River Waterway Commission and Rapides Parish Police Jury to find out what they have been working
Back in May and June farmland and streets around Central Louisiana flooded as the Red River inched its way over its banks.
Now, about three months later, clean-up and repair efforts continue, especially on Rigolette Road, which we’re told needs about $250,000 worth of repairs.
“We are still working with FEMA to repair some of the roads,” said Dennis Woodward, public works director with the Rapides Parish Police Jury. “We had about seven roads with significant damage.”
The Red River Waterway Commission’s role during the flooding was helping to coordinate federal, state and local partners, as well as the Corps of Engineers.
“We quickly found that everyone pulled together, worked in a common direction, engaged the emergency respondents – the federal government, the state officials, local officials and worked together toward a common goal of making sure we were prepared for what was coming,” said Robert Vinet, marketing
director for the Red River Waterway Commission.
It’s role now is focusing on restoring
Meanwhile, the parish continues to make repairs to the damaged roadways.
“We’re in the process of filling out the public assistance documents
with FEMA and get those taken care of,” said Woodward. “We have about $600,000 worth of damage.”
