[StBernard] Louisiana parish reps get ideas, affirmation in post-Katrina visit

[Westley Annis]

Louisiana parish reps get ideas, affirmation in post-Katrina visit
Susanne Nadeau Grand Forks Herald
Published Friday, June 13, 2008
 
For Polly Boudreaux, a first-hand view of flood recovery in Grand Forks and
East Grand Forks is kind of like seeing "the light at the end of the
tunnel," she said.

Boudreaux, council chair in St. Bernard Parish, La., is with a delegation
from that community near New Orleans that is visiting through Sunday to
learn the ins and outs of the cities' recovery since the Flood of 1997.

Her home was completely under water after Hurricane Katrina hit and the
levees broke, causing massive flooding in August 2005. 

Boudreaux shared photos of her home, taken after the hurricane and
subsequent flooding battered her neighborhood. Sheetrock and insulation,
separated from the walls because of the water, were pushed with every other
belonging to one side of the house. One house in the neighborhood was picked
up off its foundation and carried into the front lawn of another home by
floodwaters so high the house floated over mailboxes. Knick-knacks still
stood on the window sills, she said. 

"It was as though someone picked it up and gently laid it down," she said. 

It's been about three years since Katrina hit, and recovery has been
difficult. Less than 40 percent of people have moved back to their homes,
Boudreaux said. For-sale signs litter front yards, and there are homes that
have been abandoned and are slated for demolition. 

The population of St. Bernard Parish was about 68,000 before the hurricane
hit, according to Craig Taffaro Jr., St. Bernard Parish president. Now, it
is home to about 35,000 people.

Taffaro said he's interested in learning about how Grand Forks officials
stayed on track with their recovery plan, even when faced with public
criticism on controversial projects. He also said he'd like to hear more
about how Grand Forks and East Grand Forks worked with other agencies during
the recovery process.

"We're here to gain some insight as to which strategies were most successful
in navigating through that bureaucratic maze of local, state and federal
agencies," said Taffaro. "In some ways, it's an affirming trip, to hear some
of those aspects of our recovery really are in line with long-term
recovery."

The group took a bus tour of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks on Thursday,
stopping at Lincoln Park to hear how that once-busy, blue-collar
neighborhood devastated by floodwaters had transformed into the playground,
picnic and recreational area it is now.


The tour was "fantastic," said Earl Dauterive, a planning and zoning
official in St. Bernard Parish. "It's reinforcing a lot of the ideas we
had," he said. "We're seeing the reality; that it's possible to (recover). I
wish everybody down there could see this."

Recovery is under way in St. Bernard Parish. Just last month, community
members completed a castle-like park similar to Sherwood Forest Park in East
Grand Forks, according to Polly Boudreaux. It was the first project the
community got together to do, she said. "It had a healing factor for us,"
she said. 

Today, the group will have breakout sessions with local government officials
to hear about what worked and what didn't work during recovery, according to
Kevin Dean, public information officer for Grand Forks.

"Their disaster in New Orleans is very different than ours," Dean said.
"But, at the same time, there are a lot of commonalities. We hope to talk
them through the process we used. We want to be able to share ideas."

Reach Nadeau at (701) 780-1118; (800) 477-6572, ext. 118; or send e-mail to
snadeau at gfherald.com.