KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana |Damaged levee may have worsened Ike flooding

Damaged levee may have worsened Ike flooding

By Theresa Schmidt - bio | email

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - A week after Ike.. and many Lake area homeowners are still wondering why the floodwaters got higher than ever before.  A Cameron man believes at least part of the answer to the Calcasieu flooding question -- can be found in Cameron.

Water levels seen during hurricane Ike exceeded the expectations of many and there was flooding that left many people wondering why does it seem to be getting worse especially in some areas of Lake Charles. Says flood victim Karen Thibodeaux, "I thought, we won't get water because of the new generator down there at the pumping station. I just believed we wouldn't get water. I woke up that morning and the water was coming. It was rushing around the corner on Watkins to the point that it knocked us down."

 Scott Henry thinks he has at least part of the answer. He explains the Cameron Creole Watershed levee along Calcasieu Lake was damaged during Hurricane Rita and was never built back up. "This is another barrier, a 19 mile barrier, to slow the water coming in. When the water comes over the ridge here in Cameron, it has to move over this. And this would slow it down."

 Henry is a major land owner in Cameron parish and is also Chairman of the Cameron Drainage Board. He says Calcasieu and Cameron parishes need to join forces to get the levee repaired in order to prevent future flooding. "We need support from Calcasieu parish to put pressure on our government and the United States government to get in here to repair it. It's a big project and we don't know where the funding's going to come."

 And while he says there's been talk of a levee around Lake Charles, Henry says the levee to protect Lake Charles is needed in Cameron Parish. Wetlands expert David Richard agrees the need for levee improvements contributed to flooding in parts of Calcasieu Parish and Grand Lake. And he says the Calcasieu Ship Channel was a major conduit for water from Ike's storm surge.

Richard says Ike caused the water level at Calcasieu looks to surpass the previous record set during hurricane Audrey in 1957 by three feet.