The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA), the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced approval of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to upgrade the Vacherie Backwater Pumping Station with two 48-inch pumps. Vacherie is in St. James Parish.
The upgrades funded through this project will complete a previously funded HMGP flood protection project. The original backwater and flood protection project was completed in 2001, but due to budgetary constraints, the recommended 48-inch pumps were not installed. Since that time, the parish has used temporary pumps to remove rainwater and maintain the required water level needed to reduce flood damages.
Funding from this $377,895 grant will be used to remove the existing 20-inch pumps and install two 48-inch pumps. The project will require no major design or construction modifications. The new pumps will be able to handle future flooding without relying on installation of temporary pumps.
“This project area has been burdened with prolonged backwater flooding caused by high tides and storm surges from the Lac Des Allemands Basin,” said Jim Stark, FEMA’s director of the Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office. “Installation of the larger pumps will directly affect and reduce flooding to an area that includes 225 residential properties, six commercial structures, two schools and one fire station.”
Source: FEMA
Topics Flood
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