Rebuilding Cameron: One Step at a Time

By Chaney Ferguson
The Times of SWLA




In September of 2008 Hurricane Ike destroyed much of the progress Cameron had made from rebuilding after Hurricane Rita. Clifton Hebert, Emergency Preparedness Director of Cameron Parish is taking baby steps to a full recovery.

“We are just beginning to make some progress,” said Hebert. “We have made baby steps and that is what we have to take after getting hit twice in three years.”

According to Hebert the nature of the damage between the two hurricanes was the difference between wind and flood damage.

“We experienced a lot of the flooding from the surge during Ike,” said Hebert. “We had a little less wind damage, but the surge was a lot greater in the northern part of the parish than what we had for Rita.”

Even though recovery is slow the parish is beginning to see progress in the public buildings. A new school board administration office is in the process of being built, and South Cameron High School has a completed foundation with red-irons being put up.

“The east annex which will be housing the district attorney’s office and the parish assessor is well on its way up,” said Hebert. “We have several fire stations that are now in process of being built.”
Hebert says the main issue contributing to slow progress is insurance and red tape caused by being hit by two hurricanes so close together.

“We had insurance issues pertaining to Rita and now we have insurance issues pertaining to Ike,” said Hebert. “On top of all that we have the federal and state assistance. It’s really a complicated web.”

Before rebuilding can begin in some areas the issue of the D-FIRM maps has to be settled. FEMA will not pay for buildings to be built in certain areas unless certain elevations are put in place.
“The D-FIRM maps are the new digital elevation maps,” said Hebert. “What happens is it has converted 80% of our parish to a V-zone or a high-velocity zone.”

Hebert and others in the parish have protested the new maps.

“We think we have some very good scientific evidence to be able to protest it to have these things swapped and changed out a little bit because some of the data was bad input,” said Hebert.

The maps also affect residents in the parish as they rebuild their homes. According to Hebert, building with the new regulations in mind can add as much as $50,000-$100,000 to a new home.

“It’s killing our community,” said Hebert. “People are deciding to save their money and just live elsewhere.”

Stephanie Rodrigue, Superintendent of the Cameron Parish School Board lost everything during Hurricane Rita. She and her husband decided that Cameron was where they wanted to stay, and they built their home with the new elevation codes in mind.

“We are elevated above the new projected maps so we are above both elevation policies,” said Rodrigue. “We are above the D-FIRM maps.”

Elevation is not the only facet of the new home. Rodrigue’s home incorporates many hurricane-resistant aspects, such as breakaway walls, flood vents, hurricane strapping and clips.
“We have elevated heating and AC systems,” said Rodrigue, “An elevated on- demand water heater and impact resistant windows.”

According to Rodrigue they have a pre-wired generator that supports the house, and they are also awaiting an order for hurricane shutters.

“We have blown in insulation that strengthens the house as well as being energy efficient,” said Rodrigue.

Rodrigue and her husband began building March 8, 2008. The house was a six month project completed two weeks before Hurricane Ike.

“We had $12,000 worth of damage to the bottom level but the flood vents work,” said Rodrigue. “We lost our mechanical sewer system, but those are all on-ground issues and if we had been living in the house we could have moved right back in, but we hadn’t put our furniture in yet.”
Rodrigue advises others in the area to build on pilings and build as high and as strong as possible from an engineering standpoint. If this hurricane season brings an evacuation Rodrigue feels comfortable leaving assets upstairs and only taking what is irreplaceable.

“We will not have as much that we need to take because we feel that our belongings will be well-protected,” said Rodrigue.

As the next hurricane season approaches Rodrigue has confidence that her new home will be able to withstand a storm.

Hebert reminds people that each storm is different with its own characteristics. “Just because a building made it through Ike doesn’t mean it would make it through another Rita.”

Hurricane season begins June 1 and Hebert stresses the need for people to heed an evacuation.
“My main concern is human life,” said Hebert. “We can always rebuild a building, but you can’t rebuild a human life once it’s gone.”

Blueprint Louisiana: Reforming the Agenda

Chaney Ferguson
The Times of SWLA





In the spring and summer of 2007, the original agenda for Blueprint Louisiana was formed. It is a citizen-driven endeavor to pinpoint and execute necessary changes to improve Louisiana.

“Blueprint Louisiana was developed a couple of years ago, actually, the year before the last election cycle in the hopes of getting legislators to sign on to an agenda for good government ideas,” said Dennis Stine, President and CEO, Stine Lumber Co. Stine is also a member of the Blueprint Louisiana steering committee.

“The thought process is if enough signed on we would have a majority or super-majority of legislators supporting agenda ideas when they ran for office,” Stine said. “Once they got elected they would support those items.”

Stine states that in 2007, approximately 82% of the members of the State Senate and 71% of the members of the House of Representatives signed the original contract to support the Blueprint Agenda.

In addition to pursuing the original agenda, Blueprint will advocate for the “New Economy” section: Create a Knowledge-Based, Innovation-Driven Economy.

According to www.blueprintlouisiana.org, Louisiana must begin now to build and position its economy to grow and thrive in the years and decades ahead. This involves two steps.
The first step targets education: A shift to a performance-based formula to fund higher education to reward the results we need to transform our economy.

“I think in the entire state, higher education is currently funded by what they call a student credit hour system where if students enroll and they take so many credit hours the university is funded by receiving funds for how many credit hours they have in particular programs,” Stine said.

According to Stine, all universities, including McNeese, have a very low graduation rate after five or six years. A student enrolls in a particular program, but due to various reasons, does not finish that program.

“We want to create an incentive program that says let’s put the emphasis on getting people degrees and certificates so they can go make a living and support their families,” Stine said.
“What we want to do is develop a program in our state that’s a performance based funding system. It gives credit to universities for having folks that go into the higher educational system, finish programs or attain some type of degree certificate,” Stine said.

Stine thinks that although a change of that nature will have to be phased in, it will bode well for the citizens of our state.

“It’s not simply about getting the individual into college it’s about helping them finish their program,” said Stine. “It’s about success for the individual.”

The second step is: create a Louisiana Research Alliance (modeled after highly successful research alliance organizations in other states) to guide state investments to support diversification and growth of Louisiana’s economy.

The agenda states that in today’s world, economic development and postsecondary education must be directly linked.

“We are looking for centers of excellence in one of our programs and in that center of excellence we are looking for our area to be known for energy production,” said Stine. “If anyone in the state wants to be involved in the energy field of our state they would come to Southwest Louisiana to have their training.”

BlueprintLouisiana.org outlines a solution for implementing step two. The key is to efficiently use state resources to build new innovative sectors which require investments in targeted growth areas.

Specifically, Louisiana must recruit world-class researchers who will bring and attract federal research funds and talented graduate students. These researchers will develop technology that can be licensed to new and existing companies.

Finally, the state must invest in systems to move new technology from university labs into Louisiana companies.

“The second section is recommended to be a study this year enabling legislation to create that study group and monitor its progress,” Stine said.

Funding for the program will come from the state and businesses. “It’s everyone working together to create jobs in our state,” said Stine.

Blueprint Louisiana is exactly what its name says. It is a blueprint to outline incentives for the state to follow.

“I know Mayor Randy Roach talks about success in a region, and if a region can improve then the city improves,” said Stine. “The same can be said about our state. If the state can improve then each region improves.”

Stine stated that if Louisiana has good government reform then each region will be better for it, and begin to see those improvements. Blueprint Louisiana is looking to implement those reforms through the original agenda items and the two new additions. The members of the organization will push for the “New Economy” component in the upcoming legislative session.