Concordia Parish to receive $2 million in FEMA grant to repair drainage channels due to flooding

CONCORDIA PARISH, La. (KTVE/KARD) – FEMA awarded more than $2 million to Concordia Parish to make drainage upgrades as well as road improvements.

Concordia Parish Police Juror, Genesia Allen says the need for these improvements is crucial.

“The funding will be able to assist us in so many different ways. We were able to go into a lot of our ditches and our canals to be able to clear out some of the debris. They were able to go in and pull a lot of trees out. So, that was blocking a lot of our water waste.”

Allen says recent rains have caused canals to overflow, damaging the pavement roads.

“We will be able to go again, and do the new features. The new way of constructing these roads. We will be able to go with the new covers, and that will help us with the water waste. In order to get the water to go up and ways that it will run out it won’t cause those neighborhoods to flood.”

The estimated cost for these projects is nearly $5 million. The Concordia Parish Police Jury will be responsible for a 25 percent match for the drainage improvement, and another 25 percent for road upgrades.

“ If we start with the roads, on this FEMA grant, we then can review our culverts, ditches and canals to try and prevent the water from backing into our homes, schools and businesses. So, with our projects, we have created a plan, of course with our engineers that are bidded for selected grants, we can try and prevent more problems being created when we have bad weather, storms etc,” explained Allen.

“I feel pretty good about it. Maybe it will be easier on the trucks,” said Jace, a resident.

Allen says once the grant is received, they will begin with the project.

Below is the breakdown of the FEMA Grant.

For Concordia Parish Gravel Roads, Concordia Parish Gravel Roads, the jury has been approved for $1,087,557.00. The parish is responsible for the 25 % match. The gravel roads that are at the top of the list, in great need:

Minorca Road
Rokafee Road
Resort Road
Old River Boat Camp Road
Deer Park Levee Road
South Prong Road
Fairview Landing Road
Slocum Levee Road
Chandler Road

For Concordia Parish Paved Roads, Concordia Parish Gravel Roads, the jury has been approved for $1,068, 063.43. The parish is responsible for the 25 % match. The paved roads that are at the top of the list, in great need: