St. Tammany News

St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis was a little more relaxed on the way back to the dock Thursday afternoon, but his anxiety heading out into the swamp to view the blockage on the West Pearl River was evident.

Joined by several members of the parish administration and the local media, Davis took a boat trip on the West Pearl Thursday to view the status of the clean-up efforts on the river. This was Davis' first trip out since he successfully convinced the Federal Emergency Management Agency the river needed to be cleared.

Workers continue to clear debris from the clogged Pearl River. (Staff Photo by Shane M. Douglas)

For more than a year, Davis argued with FEMA officials about the dangers caused by the piles of vegetative debris, swamp grass and trees blocking the river's flow, and in September, after he took several of them on a boat trip to view the blockage first hand, FEMA officials agreed to pay the estimated $4.5 to 5 million bill to clear the river.

A week before Christmas, a crew from Great Southern Dredging out of Mandeville brought equipment out to the site of the blockage south of the U.S. Highway 90 bridge and began pulling the debris from the water.

The debris is being placed on barges and brought to the shore, where it is chipped before being hauled to one of the parish's approved disposal sites.

Davis estimates there is at least 500,000 cubic yards of debris blocking the natural flow of the river, causing the water level to rise and in some places, the flow to reverse.

Normally 200 feet wide at many points, the river was completely blocked at some points after Hurricane Katrina. Approximately one month after Hurricane Rita, Wildlife and Fisheries personnel did little more than put a Band-aid on the situation when they cleared a 35-foot wide passage.

Blocked from its normal path, the river has adjusted, blowing out new passages through the marsh, endangering homes and neighborhoods.

Friday's Ditch, which before the storm was a narrow passage into the marsh, is now a raging torrent as the water seeks somewhere the go.

Brian Fortson, the parish's environmental specialist, said Wildlife and Fisheries has pulled a lot of capsized boats from this passage, as the current is moving faster than many smaller boats can maneuver.

"The West Pearl is not flowing so all of its check valves are flowing," he said.

This is no more evident than at the river junction with Doubloon Bayou.

Under normal conditions, Doubloon Bayou and the man-made canals that flow into it, bring water from the south Slidell area to the Pearl River.

However, since the river has not been flowing properly since Hurricane Katrina, Doubloon Bayou has reversed itself and water is now flowing from the river into the bayou as it takes a shortcut into Fritchie Marsh.

"All of the homes off Doubloon Bayou are in danger (of flooding)," Suzanne Parson Stymiest, spokesperson for the parish, said.

Davis explained that everything on the eastern side of the parish drains through the river and as long as the river is not flowing properly an estimated 80,000 homes are in danger of flooding.

"Heavy rain could flood all of Slidell and Pearl River," he said. "Thank goodness we haven't had any really heavy rains."

So far, he said, the parish has been lucky because the area has not experienced any heavy rainfall, and he hopes that good fortune continues until the crews can finish clearing the blockage.

That is expected to take at least a couple more months, but Davis said he was extremely pleased with the amount of work already completed.

"Things are going very well," a relieved Davis said after viewing the work being done first hand. "It's going to take a while to get it out of here, but we are working on the big parts now."

Fortson said once the main river is cleared of all debris, the normal flow of the river should return and the risk of flooding should be reduced.

"When finished this should eliminate the backflow problem," Davis said.