KRAEMER, La. (BRPROUD) — Two days after Hurricane Francine, people are still dealing with flood waters at their doors. In Lafourche Parish, some residents believe not enough is being done to keep water at bay.
Along Bayou Boeuf, a small tight-knit community that’s had generations of families grow up near the water, people are dealing with homes being filled with water and mud for the second time in three years. Down Highway 307, several homes in Kraemer are still sitting in water.
They feel there has not been enough done to keep the water out of homes. Henry Kraemer Jr. said the levee along the lake was raised after Hurricane Ida, but now Bayou Boeuf is bringing water. They don’t know why a levee or other mitigation method hasn’t been built when they’ve known about the issues for years.
“I’ve been living here for 75 years. And for Ida, I know we had the storm surge which came from Lac des Allemands. But before that, the water really didn’t get this far,” Kraemer said.
Louisiana state leaders tour damage left by Hurricane Francine One family across the street from him is ripping out floors again and asking why things aren’t changing. Clint Zeringue said his mother doesn’t want to leave their generational home — even though she’s tired of the damage.
“She’s frustrated. For Ida, we had about two feet. It wasn’t as bad, but we still had about four or five inches throughout the whole house. So, we’re now ripping baseboards, flooring all our bottom cabinets,” Zeringue said.
He explains they have insurance that will help with the costs. But others on the same street said flood insurance is estimated to be $8,000 a year. They simply can’t afford it.
Farther down the highway next to the bridge over the bayou, people had small sandbags stacked up to try and keep the water from going over the water. Several inches of mud and water came through anyway. One neighbor said the day after the storm hit, larger sand barriers were brought in. They don’t understand why that wasn’t taken care of before Francine came in.
IRS gives some relief to Francine victims in Louisiana: What to know about deadlines Congressman Garret Graves traveled down the bayou to meet with folks and hear their infrastructure needs. He spoke with Kraemer and his neighbors about how they are still waiting for Restore Louisiana and FEMA money to come through to finish repairs from Ida. Now, they fear that new damages from Francine will complicate the process and create new barriers.
“During Hurricane Ida, a couple that lived back here for 50 years, that they had three feet of water, four feet of water in their home, and they wouldn’t leave because it was their home,” Graves said. “And you’ve got to understand that that’s how people view places like this. We’ve got to make investments and I don’t think it’s going to take a billion dollars to fix this.”
He said the major investments in levees and flood control work in other areas of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes saved billions in damages in this storm. But each storm reveals the weaknesses that have to be addressed.
“Now, this is sort of a new game of whack a mole in that we found some additional areas that have vulnerabilities,” Graves said. “We’re going to be going back to Washington, identifying funding streams, identifying agencies and trying to come in and make sure that things like this don’t happen again.”
The entire Louisiana delegation has written to President Joe Biden to expedite the major disaster declaration. This will open up loans for individual and public assistance as well as hazard mitigation funds.
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