Evelyn K. Dupuy

The residents of lower Livingston need the help, said Evelyn Dupuy, the District 9 Fire Chief.

Not only did they suffer property losses, but many of them also were put out of work for days because of the storm, she said.

She said inspections of her fire district, which runs along La. 22 most of the way across southern Livingston Parish, showed between 1,000 and 1,500 homes damaged.

The flooding was "three times worse than Katrina," District 9 Fire Chief Evelyn Dupuy said Saturday afternoon as National Guard troops and other emergency workers ran rescue missions on the flooded roads along La. 22.

"We're used to flooding, but not water crashing in like this," she said.

She estimated that the high water affected about half of the 2,500 people in her district.

Though the flood water cut people off from La. 22, many of their houses didn't flood, because most are built off the ground.

Residents of most of the homes that did flood had evacuated before the storm, Dupuy said.

In many of the flooded homes, people put furniture on top of cinder blocks before evacuating, District 9 Fire Chief Evelyn Dupuy said.

She estimated that flooding from Rita entered or surrounded the homes of about half of the 2,500 residents of her district alone.
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Dupuy thinks that could take a while.

"When the wind shifts, we'll just get water from another direction," she said.

The problem started even before this weekend along the southern rim of the parish, said Fire Chief Evelyn Dupuy, whose Fire Protection District 9 covers most of that area.The mosquitoes are making storm cleanup more difficult, she said.

Those people who do venture out are covering themselves with clothing and mosquito repellant, Dupuy said.A lot of people have become discouraged not just by the insects but by the putrid smell left by the flood and the debris piling up on the roadsides, she said.

Limbs and trees from Hurricane Katrina remain piled up, and people have to try to add to them as they yank out ruined furniture, walls and floors, the fire chief said.

At some spots, no place remains to add storm debris, which has started to spill onto the roads, she said.

"It's an accident waiting to happen," she added.

The Livingston Parish Council has turned over cleanup of debris piles from Hurricane Katrina to a contractor working under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Dead animals, run over as they tried to flee the flood, also clutter roadways.

That, along with the mud left by the flood waters that remained in homes and yards for days, has created a stench, Dupuy said.

"The yards are black instead of green," she said.

Dupuy said half or more of the homes in her fire district, which runs along La. 22 across the southern part of the parish, were damaged by the storm's flood waters.

The water came up quickly, and hundreds of people who hadn't left early got surrounded by water while they remained in their homes, she said.

"We're not playing the blame game," said District 9 Fire Chief Evelyn Dupuy, whose district covers most of the parish's hard-hit areas.
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The people whose homes flooded really deserve and need help, Dupuy said.

An inspection last week that included an official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicated that between 1,000 and 1,500 homes were damaged by the storm's flood waters, said Evelyn Dupuy, the fire chief for District 9, which covers most of the southern part of the parish.

A lot of people have become discouraged by the damage to their homes, problems with mosquitoes, a putrid smell left by flood waters and the debris heaped on the roadsides, she said.

Limbs and trees from Hurricane Katrina remain piled up, and people have to try to add to them as they yank out ruined furniture, walls and floors, the fire chief said.

At some spots no place remains to add storm debris, which has started to spill onto the roads, she said.

The Livingston Parish Council has turned over cleanup of debris piles from Katrina to a contractor working under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Not only did people in southern Livingston Parish suffer property losses, but many were out of work for days, said Evelyn Dupuy, the District 9 fire chief.

"I really think that is wrong," she said of the lack of help to people provided by state and federal officials.
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An inspection by fire officials and a FEMA representative showed between 1,000 and 1,500 homes damaged in the lower part of the parish, Dupuy said.

Meanwhile, huge piles of debris on roadsides in lower Livingston Parish continue to create a safety concern, said Fire Chief Evelyn Dupuy of Fire Protection District 9.

She has complained publicly for weeks about the debris in her area not getting picked up.

The piles create a visibility problem for people trying to get out of their driveways, she said.

Those piles of dead trees, branches and leaves also present a fire hazard because of the extremely dry conditions that have led to a number of wildfires in the area, she said.

That represents half or more of the homes in the fire district that runs along La. 22 across the southern part of the parish, said Fire Chief Evelyn Dupuy of Livingston Parish Fire Protection District 9.
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Dupuy said a FEMA official was part of the group that inspected the homes, and after talking to him late Wednesday, she is very hopeful Livingston Parish will be added to the emergency declaration.

High water in the area finally has fallen, allowing some people to get from their homes to roads for the first time since the storm, officials said Wednesday.

That also allowed officials to get in for an initial assessment of the damage.What they found didn't look or smell good.

The worst thing now is the strong odor that the muddy water left behind, Dupuy said.

Right behind that is the massive job of cleanup and repair, she said.

The piles of limbs from Katrina have not yet been picked up.Now, ruined furniture and other debris will be added to the roadside heaps, Dupuy said.

It's going to take a while to get the area back to normal, she added.
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Hurricane Rita caused a lot more flooding than Katrina, and many people didn't expect that, Dupuy said.

Chief Evelyn K. Dupuy