NEW IBERIA — People who live along Hazard Road in New Iberia are worried about the amount of flooding they see. They say the water gets so high that oftentimes they are trapped inside their homes. Days after the heavy rainfall the area received, the water is still an issue and residents say it's beginning to affect their everyday lives.
"We can't go to work and the children can't go to school," says Diana Jeanlouis, a resident who lives in the area. "Today I had an important doctor's appointment and the water was just so high that I had to call and cancel."
Jeanlouis says the flooding has been happening for years now; in fact, she says since 2005, but over time it has gotten worse.
"The last hurricane that we had my family and I got stuck for about six days because of the flooding, and we started running out of food and water, so we had to walk through a cane field to get to the roadway to the store," says one resident. "I have actually lost two jobs due to being stuck."
KATC reached out to Iberia Parish President Larry Richard and District Five Councilman Warren Gachassin, and they both said that the city is aware of the issue and are working on funding for the project, as well as a solution that will prevent flooding for good.
Gachassin says the problem is that Hazard Road is too low, and when the nearby retention pond overflows during heavy rainfall, the water runs into the road and fills up. He says the city is working on avenues to not only make the road higher, but to find a way to properly drain the excess water.
He says the project will be discussed in the City Council Meeting next Wednesday, May 26th, at 6 pm.
Until then, residents along the road still are faced with flooded roads and sick days when heavy rain is in the forecast.
"It's everytime," says Jeanlouis. "We just want the city to do something about this so we can live our lives and go out like normal."
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