NEW ORLEANS — Less than a month after three children drowned in the Mississippi River, change may be coming from the federal level.
Congressman Troy Carter spoke Wednesday at the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to add an amendment to the Water Resource Development Act of 2022.
The bipartisan, biennial bill enacts nationwide projects regarding America’s waterways and ports.
Carter sought to add an amendment that would enlist the Army Corps of Engineers to examine the banks of the lower Mississippi River, analyze the risks, and then install lights, sirens, or signage to alert the public of dangerous water conditions.
“This is a tragic loss of life that we’ve experienced,” Rep. Carter said of the Kevin Poole, Jr., Brandy Wilson, and Ally Berry, who were swept away by the river in late April in Algiers.
“When I offer this amendment, I did so keeping in mind my constituents who tragically lost their lives as a result of the insufficient measures being taken to alert the public of the hazardous risk of the river water conditions.”
The children’s families have placed construction fencing and signage at the sight, warning others not to enter.
JayCee Cain, spokesperson for the families, said they welcome more permanent change.
“It’s definitely refreshing news to know that, for them, they’re being heard. That their memories of their children are still living. That their lives are not in vain. And someone is going to do something to make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future,” said Cain.
“Their memories should not be in vain. Their lives should not be in vain. So we need to make sure that those three lives that were lost on the banks of this river, that we prevent it from happening to another child or adult again,” Cain continued.
Family is still searching for the body of 8-year-old Ally Berry.
The WRDA will now head to the full House of Representatives, with Carter’s amendment, for a final vote. That may happen sometime in June.