ACADIAN-CAJUN-L Archives

From: "Stanley LeBlanc" <>
Subject: Intracoastal Canal is the culprit in flooding of SW Louisiana
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 18:18:12 -0500

The Intra-coastal Canal is an economic lifeline for SW Louisiana, but it is
also the biggest culprit in the flooding of SW Louisiana. The Intra-coastal
Canal was built in the 1940s as a navigational system for barges and boat
traffic. It runs 1300 miles from Carabelle, Florida to Brownswville, Texas.


When Hurricane Rita hit Sept. 24, water from the storm's 20-foot surge that
hit Cameron Parish raced through the Intra-coastal Waterway east to
Vermilion Parish, flooding homes hours after the storm swept through the
area.

Robert LeBlanc, head of Vermilion Parish's Office of Emergency Preparedness,
said Rita caused much more havoc than Hurricane Audrey, which stormed
through the area in 1957, because an earthen wall that ran along the
Intra-coastal back then has been eroded by barge traffic.

The wall of dirt, which acted like a levee and rose up to 20 feet high in
places, was the result of digging out the waterway.

"But there's no buffer for us anymore," LeBlanc said.

He said that about 6,000 homes were flooded or destroyed by Rita's water and
winds in Vermilion Parish

Stanley LeBlanc
http://www.thecajuns.com

This thread:

• Intracoastal Canal is the culprit in flooding of SW Louisiana by "Stanley LeBlanc" <>

  • Re: [ACADIAN-CAJUN] Intracoastal Canal is the culprit in flooding of SW Louis... by