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Residents experience flood flashbacks ahead of weekend weather

3 years 6 months 3 weeks ago Friday, June 04 2021 Jun 4, 2021 June 04, 2021 5:29 PM June 04, 2021 in News
Source: WBRZ

UPDATE: The City-Parish removed the debris from the Jones Creek choke point on Monday.

BATON ROUGE - Maintenance crews are working before the rain this weekend, clearing canals and drainage ditches. With the May flood still on the minds of many, crews in East Baton Rouge spent the week working through their schedule of clearing drainage systems.

Many people are still worried.

About three weeks ago, Jim Buckley got about an inch of water in his house. It was just enough water to ruin his floors that were replaced after the 2016 flood. Buckley took a cellphone video from his carport of the water filling Cuyhanga Pkwy and coming up his driveway.

He's lived in his Villa Del Ray home for 28 years. He flooded in 2016 and again on May 17. It's something he doesn't want to happen again.

"It's too much stress, too much pressure," said Buckley.

Each time there's heavy rain in the forecast he gets an uneasy feeling.

"Every time they get a heavy rain, I call it my own PTSD," said Buckley. "You get kind of... I don't want to do this again."

Jones Creek flows behind his house and just down the street, it makes a sharp turn. That turn travels south under Cuyhanga Pkwy where there's a spot that often collects large branches, trees, and other debris. Buckley says he's often the one to report the blockage to the City-Parish.

"Every time it rains it gets a blockage and when the water goes down you have to call it in," he said. "They close the ticket out, once they clean it it's done and they don't come back."

The City-Parish maintenance department has been working its regular schedule this week clearing roadside ditches, blowing out pipes, and removing beaver dams. A drainage crew on Paige Street dug out street drainage ditches Friday. Beaver dams were cleared between Nicholson Drive and Riverbend Blvd. A vacuum truck worked to unclog pipes on Wells Street Friday afternoon and a large pile of debris and trash-related items was removed from Sherwood Forest near Catalpa Street.

The city did not get to the Jones Creek problem spot Buckley called in a week or so ago. It's an issue that might keep Buckley up at night and eventually force him to leave.

"I hate to move but if this keeps up you just can't keep living like this," he said.

The City-Parish also replaced sand at sandbag locations around the city Friday. It says it will get to the Jones Creek blockage soon.

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