The Army Corps of Engineers says the Comite River Diversion Project would not have reduced flooding as much as some may think. Deputy District Commander Mark Wingate says what they need is a system wide approach. He says flood mitigation projects are also needed along the Amite River and Bayou Manchac.
Cut 15 (09) “downstream”
Wingate says the Comite project would only have reduced damage for 5 to 10-percent of the affected structures.
The Department of Children and Family Services is having trouble getting disaster food stamps to flood victims in a timely manner because the state agency is understaffed. West Monroe Senator Mike Walsworth says there were employment cutbacks during the budget crunch because Louisiana hasn’t seen a hurricane in several years.
Cut 4 (09) “an emergency”
Housing efforts are ongoing for displaced flood victims. US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro says he supports the temporary housing solutions offered by Governor John Bel Edwards. He says the federal government learned many lessons from Katrina, which has led to better produced manufactured homes for displaced residents…
Castro says the federal government is committed to the flood recovery in Louisiana.
The LSU AgCenter says crawfish farmers won’t know how much their harvest was impacted by the flood until later this year. Aquaculture specialist, Mark Shirley says farmers need to get the water out of their fields to keep predators away when the crawfish eggs start to hatch.
Female crawfish begin laying eggs in late August and continue through early December.