Riverside Academy Field, Reserve, La.
The Louisiana rain has finally stopped. The devastation continues.
"The rain stopped Saturday and now I'm removing all the molding from my house, which was downright flooded," said Cliff Barton, chairman of the board of Greater Baton Rouge State Fair, Airline Hwy Parish Park, La. and personal flood victim. "I just got off the phone with FEMA. We live in an area that's not in a flood zone and everybody who lives here was told not to buy flood insurance. For 25 years we have not had a problem; but now we do. But we're going to grin and bear through it and get through it."
Louisiana, still reeling from the personal hardship and financial impact of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago, has been hit again with another debilitating weather-related disaster. On Friday, Aug. 12, a surge of rain poured down on the southern part of the state, which includes Baton Rouge and neighboring towns. Two feet of water built up from the sudden swell of rain, which flooded most of the area. The rain stopped Saturday but the flood lingers.
At least eight people have died in the floods, and an estimated 40,000 homes have been impacted. More than 20,000 people had to be rescued by city personnel and local volunteers, and more than 8,000 people have been forced into shelters.
Governor Jon Bel Edwards said during a news conference Tuesday that the state is entering a recovery phase while also continuing search and rescue missions. Edwards also said he was perplexed as to why the state is "suffering through a very large disaster but not getting a lot of attention in the news."
"We got rid of all the carpeting, removed all the baseboards, but we're staying in the house, for sure," said Barton. "The big waters have stopped."
As for the Greater Baton Rouge Fairgrounds, Barton said, "The fairgrounds are completely underwater. My house is on the north side of the parish; the fairgrounds are on the south side. The water there is two days behind where we are here; so as of today the water is going down on the fairgrounds as the water heads south."
Even with the site currently underwater and "looking like a swamp," Barton fully expects there to be a Greater Baton Rouge State Fair this year. "We don't start until October," said Barton. "We have plenty of time for the grounds to drain and dry. If there are any repairs, we have time to get that done prior to opening."
Paid attendance at the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair averages between 55,000-65,000 people, not counting the 10,000 plus kids and adults under 48 inches who get in for free. Barton expects the number to swell this year. "We'll have a heck of a fair this year," he said. "The city will be looking for a family-type fun outlet after all this devastation."
As for the physical damage to fairgrounds, "the land is owned by the recreation and parks committee for the city," Barton said. "So any repairs will be their responsibility to do. I'm going to get some people out there in a few days to assess the damage and we'll take it from there. I expect by September we will be in good shape."
"We're looking at a great fair once we get past the next couple weeks," said Barton. Then he had to get off the phone because his insurance representative was calling.
Unaffected by the flood, but entirely affected by the destruction surrounding them, Baton Rouge River Center has become a makeshift shelter for the flood refugees. "The city of Baton Rouge and surrounding areas have been devastated by the storms and flooding," said Sam Voisin, regional VP for SMG, which manages the building. "I'm here today because our general manager, Michael Day, is dealing with the flood fallout at home." In addition to Day's flood-related absence, Voisin said that five other staff members were MIA due to "losing everything." As an SMG-managed building, Voisin was proud to be part of "an organization that takes care of its employees."
"It's taken a toll on the citizens of the area and their property; the evacuees from the flood are being given shelter here at the Baton Rouge River Center," said Voisin. "It's a coordinated effort between the City of Baton Rouge, Homeland Security, Louisiana State Police, the Governor's office, Army National Guard and the Air Force."
There are currently 2,000 evacuees in River Center. "The number is diminishing as people are able to find shelter with family and move on," said Voisin. "I believe the area is still in rescue mode; it's not in recovery mode yet. There's still a lot of devastation around the area. There are still many people in need."
"The venue was not affected by the flood; there are no issues with water," explained Voisin. "Arenas like ours are conducive for shelters because of the infrastructure. The Governor of the State of Louisiana declared River Center a shelter Sunday night at 9 p.m.; we started accepting guests into the shelter at midnight on Sunday and continue to do so."
The refugees have been provided with bedding and food. "FEMA provided 2,000 cots with bedding," said Voisin. "There are three meals a day." What started out as a shelter has now progressed into much more then just a roof over the evacuees' heads and three hots and a cot.
"There's been an outpouring of donations from the community allowing for the guests to be comfortable. This has allowed River Center to progress into being more then just lodging and food. There's now a children's play area; we've converted the meeting rooms into places for religious services; there's consulting services; FEMA is here answering questions and the Olympics are being shown on a big screen. We want to provide as much normalcy as possible for people who have lost everything."
Portable showers and portable toilets had to be brought in. "We can handle 10,000 people for four hours but not 2,000 people for 24 hours," said Voisin. Another challenge of having the venue commandeered to be a shelter is on a customer service level. "We're used to having guests here for four to five hours at a stretch for an event and then they are out the door," he said. "When you become a megashelter the logistics from security to procedures are now a 24/7 operation. Setting up an operation with an unknown time frame is nothing like what we normally do."
Lessons were definitely learned from the last great flood caused by Hurricane Katrina. "It certainly has been going a lot smoother than during Katrina," said Voisin. "Industry-wide there was a white paper that came out on megasheltering out of Katrina's wake. IAVM published it many years ago and today it is still used as a guideline for using venues as shelters."
It is up to the Governor’s office as to when River Center gets deactivated as shelter and returns to doing what it does best. According to Voisin the only programming that had to be rescheduled is a Jill Scott concert that was supposed to happen Saturday, July 20. "Certainly Jill Scott understood what was going on and offered the citizens of Baton Rouge her prayers," said Voisin. "The municipality owns the venue and the revenue from the venue, so there was no monetary loss to us because we had to cancel the show. The revenue might be recoverable from FEMA by the city because it is due to Mother Nature, but that's a discussion for the government. But those are afterthoughts. The number one thought on everyone's mind is to have a safe and secure shelter and we'll think about everything else later."
In Northern Louisiana, where it is dry, their thoughts and prayers are also with the south. "Our hearts are with our friends in southern Louisiana," said Chris Giordano, president and general manager of the Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport. "Fortunately for our organization we are located in the extreme Northwest corner of the state. Other than some showers, we've been unaffected. We have zero flood issues in Shreveport; our only connection to all this is that our emergency responders have been sent down south to assist."
"I grew up in Baton Rouge," said Giordano, "A friend of mine sent me a Facebook message. He was going to check on a mutual friend of ours who lived in my old neighborhood. He said, 'Hey Chris, I drove by your old house and you have about four feet of water in it.'"
Interviewed for this story: Cliff Barton, (225) 7550-3247; Sam Voisin, (225) 389-7110; Chris Giordano, (318) 635-1361