ST BERNARD, La. — As strong winds and a high tide created rising water in St. Bernard Parish Wednesday, Eddie Asevado knew he had to go check on his Oyster business in Hopedale.
“There are no barrier islands out there. There’s nothing you can do about it,” said Asevado. “I had to come check out and pick up things.”
The only road to get there is Florissant Highway which is known to flood.
Wednesday afternoon crews were building a rock damn to keep some of the water back. When it does flood, commercial fishermen can’t get to work.
“You can’t work anyway because of the wind, but the water, the high water, you can’t get trucks down here, they’re blocking the road up there,” said Asevado. “If you’ve seen the levee it’s just always a mess.”
“This is what we deal with on a regular basis,” said Parish President Guy McInnis.
McInnis said a big part of the problem is the MRGO rock dam. Part of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, that rock dam is for storm surge protection, but McInnis said strong winds push water over the dam, trapping it in St. Bernard Parish.
“When that tide falls, it has nowhere to go. So, when the tide starts coming up again tomorrow then it’s just water on top of water,” said McInnis.
These problems are nothing new in St. Bernard Parish. During Hurricane season last year the parish requested help from the state to raise Florissian Highway about three feet.
With a massive infrastructure plan being hammered out in Washington, McInnis hopes a new road will make the state’s spending list. He’s also hopeful for a solution to the rock dam.
“We’re going down that road but until then we’re just going to have to deal with it,” said McInnis.
That road would certainly take time to get down, flooded by politics and budgets.
Back in Hopedale, a higher road sounds like a good idea but can’t be the only solution.
“It would help transportation down here but it ain’t going to stop the water from coming up,” said Asevado.
President McInnis expects the parish will be dealing with floodwaters along Florissiant Highway and the Shell Beach and Yscloskey areas for another week.