Thursday’s flash flooding: ‘I see my neighbors struggling like we did three years ago’

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA)

June 07-- Jun. 7--Acadiana residents awoke Thursday morning to pounding rain and rising waters that felt all-too-familiar to that early morning in August of 2016.

Although Thursday's flash flooding didn't damage thousands of homes like the August 2016 event, it certainly doesn't diminish the devastation felt by several residents who awoke to water in their homes.

"I see my neighbors struggling like we did three years ago," said Ashley Berthelot. "And when I look back and think of what really helped in the moment -- of course it's volunteers coming to help -- but also, people are hungry, so we're feeding our neighbors right now."

Berthelot plated and delivered meals from Raising Cane's Thursday afternoon for her neighbors on Demanade Boulevard.

The street, which is located off of Pinhook Road behind Blue Dog Cafe along the Vermilion River, had widespread flooding during the August 2016 flood. Just a handful of homes flooded Thursday morning.

"Our neighbors have been amazing," said Tori Fontenot. "They're feeding us, and with everything happening, I'd forgotten to eat."

Fontenot has only lived in the home, which flooded in 2016, for about a year. She thought everything was fine when she woke up around 6 a.m. Thursday. But within about 30 minutes, her yard was flooding, and by about 7:30 a.m., water had seeped through the walls and into her home.

She had about 2 inches of water in her home, which drained once the rain died down.

Fontenot, who is seven months pregnant, took her 3-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter to daycare Thursday afternoon once the flood waters receded so she could sort through everything with the help of neighbors. The American Red Cross visited earlier Thursday morning to document the flood so her husband could return home from Fort Polk, where he is training with the United States National Guard.

"To get everything back to normal and organized is going to be the hardest part," Fontenot said. "But we'll be OK."

Chanda Soileau, her next door neighbor who's only lived in her home for about 2 years, also experienced flooding Thursday.

She was worried about the water level outside when she awoke at 6 a.m. but not for her own home. Soileau instead went to a neighbor's house to help her move paintings and art supplies from her flooding garage.

By the time Soileau returned home, water had entered her garage and was about to enter the house. By 7:30 a.m., water came through the walls of her bedroom and quickly filled the bottom floor of her house.

"We're all cleaning up," Soileau said. "We've been taking turns at the different houses trying to get the water out with towels and dehumidifiers and things like that."

Louis Vale and his wife, Jasmine Bertrand, sent their 11-year-old and 4-year-old daughters and 9-year-old son to stay with a babysitter Thursday so they could assess the damage to the Acacia Drive home.

The street, which is located off of East Bayou Parkway along the Vermilion River, was one of the most devastated areas in Acadiana during the August 2016 flood. About 42 homes, nearly every single one in the area, flooded. Just a handful flooded Thursday morning.

Although Vale and Bertrand's home took in just 4 inches Thursday compared to 50 inches in 2016, they still don't feel like they should have experienced flooding at all.

"The people that bear the burden are the people who actually live on the river," Vale said. "So cleaning out all the waterways has actually hurt us, I think personally. It's helped other people because they don't back up and they don't flood, but the water still has to go somewhere."

Although they've lived in their home for 16 years, they're not sure if they'll rebuild or move this time around.

"The good thing is we didn't have any nice stuff anymore to replace," Bertrand said with a laugh. "And you know how much you paid for it for insurance purposes."

As people worked to dry out their homes on Acacia Drive Thursday afternoon, April Doga offered whatever assistance she could to her neighbors.

Doga's still rebuilding from the August 2016 flood, but she said she felt some survivor's guilt Thursday because her home didn't flood this time. Doga expects to move into her new home on Acacia Drive in about a month. The newly constructed house is 4 feet higher than her last, but she still felt uneasy about how quickly the Vermilion River rose Thursday morning.

"I can't believe that it was just one night of rain," Doga said. "If it would have been as long as we had rain last time, the whole thing would have happened all over again."

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