Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner Jr. said: “Look, we’ve made so much progress in the last year.
New Orleans — Parts of the Lafitte area have remained frozen over time.
A year after one of Louisiana’s most powerful storms hit Jefferson Parish, the scars of Hurricane Ida dot the landscape.
Lower Lafitte resident Jerry Bruce said, “It’s been really hard. ‘We’ve been really struggling here. It’s just frustrating for everyone.'”
Bruce’s property soaked up eight feet of water during the storm.
“I lost two big cabins,” Bruce said. “I lost part of the roof and stairs. It’s still broken and torn, but I’m going to take care of it myself.”
Ida imposed a wall of water and mud on the 7.5-foot non-federal embankment there.
Strong winds and heavy rain afflicted the communities of Lafitte, Barataria and Crown Point for 12 hours.
“I’m very lucky that I still have a home,” Bruce said. “But there are a lot of people here, across the street and so on, and they are still suffering.”
Leslie Andos had to live in her truck for some time after the storm.
He currently lives in a FEMA trailer.
“I went to the house[after the storm]to check and the place was full of fish,” Anders said. “Quiet water, knee-deep. It was rough. Finally they cleaned it up. It’s going to take a while.”
The storm flooded Lafitte’s Fisher Middle and High Schools.
“The next morning, the next morning, I took Pirogue out to go sightseeing and it was devastating,” Fisher’s head football coach Tevin Cagins said. I can’t see your car, it had that much water in it.”
Fisher’s students are still attending classes in makeshift classrooms at John Eilett High School in Marrero.
Cagins says he is still waiting to hear from FEMA to see if his school will be rebuilt.
“If we recover more than 50%, we will rebuild. If it is less, we will renew.
Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner Jr. said his town is open for business despite the storm damage.
“Look, we’ve made so much progress in the last year,” Kerner said. “There is still a lot of work to be done. The bayou still needs to be cleared. There’s still a lot to come, but we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Kerner complains that federal funding to improve hurricane and flood protection has so far been missed in the Lafitte area.
“They have 100 years of protection 2.5 miles north of us. They are building a dyke west of us. of money south of us.”
There are several For Sale signs along the Jean Lafitte Highway.
But longtime residents like Coach Cagins say Lafitte is staying home despite the risk of future storms.
“We have different structures. We are Bayou structures. Being able to cope with adversity and keep moving forward is what explains this whole community mindset.”
They have a saying along Bayou Barataria. A storm that initially makes you weaker makes you stronger… Lafite Strong.
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