ST. LANDRY PARISH — Residents living along Rue Joubert Road in St. Landry Parish say flooding has become so severe that they’ve started calling the area “Joubert’s Lake.”
Clinton Milton, who has lived on the road for 23 years, says he's never seen the road this bad.
“Look at this — it looks like a lake,” Milton said. “I even call it Joubert’s Lake when it rains.”
Milton says the flooding has disrupted daily life.
“The mailman doesn’t come anymore — it’s been four months,” he said. “The school bus doesn’t come down here either.”
Residents say the road is filled wit deep potholes and has several bumps making it hard to travel on.
Other residents share his frustration.
“This is a whole mess,” said Joyce Batiste. “It’s just ridiculous.”
The St. Landry Parish Government is currently working to repair two nearby roads in similar condition using funds from the parish’s Road and Bridge Fund. However, Parish President Jessie Bellard says Joubert Road presents a challenge because it is a private road that was once owned by another individual before being sold.
“The person we bought the land from was supposed to maintain the road,” Batiste said.
Batiste says she and other residents attended a parish meeting this week to discuss possible solutions.
“It was a very productive meeting — fingers crossed things go well,” she said.
Bellard says the parish is exploring ways to bring certain private roads into the parish system, which would allow for future maintenance and repairs. This process will require changes to an ordinance to give the parish the authority to take over the roads.
Residents say they just want to see progress.
“They had to call another ambulance to get the first one out because it got stuck in the mud,” said one resident.
Other roads causing concern include Carrington and Dynasty Lane. St. Landry Parish has taken over these roads to make repairs, but unlike Rue Joubert, they are not considered private property.
