Iberia Parish--Disaster Impact and Needs Assessment

The disastrous events that directly affected Iberia Parish are two separate events. The first of the events was the influx into the parish of people fleeing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Many people coming into the parish were residents of eastern coastal parishes. Their arrival severely strained the resources of both the public and private sectors. Many of these evacuees are not included in official counts due the nature of local cultural biases toward self-help. It is not unusual to hear accounts from local residents of 15 to 25 additional people per dwelling unit.

Iberia Parish was affected by Hurricane Rita less than a month later. Physical damage to assets in the parish were a direct result of wind and flooding.

Economic Management and Workforce Development

Damage to the economic infrastructure ranged from slight to severe. The largest losses came in the agriculture and natural resource sectors.

Unemployment rose from 5.9 percent in August 2005 to 9.9 percent November 2005, as revised. The rate dropped in December to 4.9 percent due to contraction in the overall labor force.

• More than 80 percent of the 3,750 acres in crawfish and rice was lost to salt water flooding, according to LSU Agriculture.
• Shrimping industry storage and processing facilities were destroyed, the majority of which were in Delcambre.
• Salinization damage to sugar cane Fields due to flooding. LSU Agriculture estimates as much as 50 percent reduction in the value of this year's harvest.
• Total Agricultural crop damage in Iberia Parish, as reported in the Delta Farm Press in January, 2006, was $12.7 million.
• Damage to the Port of Iberia and the Twin Parish Ports facilities are mostly due to flooding while siltation caused extensive loss of income and production.
• Wind and water damage to offshore oil production facilities.

Environmental and Coastal Restoration

The impacts of Katrina and Rita on the coastal Louisiana landscape were extensive, widespread and devastating.

• Rips to the root mass of intermediate and fresh marshes were documented in Barataria, Terrebonne Basins and in eastern Terrebonne and Cote Blanche Bay by the National Wetlands Research Center in late 2005. This damage to the marsh accelerates the erosion of the land and decreases the benefits of marshlands as a buffer.
• Storm water held on the landmass by dikes and control structures has caused salt and sulfide impacts on vegetation. The long-term affects are being monitored.
• Consequences of perpendicular navigation canals that traverse the estuarine gradient need to be evaluated. These channels can rapidly convey storm surges to ports, cities, marshes and agricultural lands, causing increased damage.
• According to eyewitness accounts, the siltation of bayous stranded shrimp boats in Bayou Tigre and has had a severe impact on navigation.
• Accelerated erosion of wetlands and shoreline by the hurricane are documented at GPS points in Vermilion Bay . Land loss averaged more than six feet, up to a maximum of 21.47 feet according to Vermilion Bay Shoreline Monitoring Stations.

Education

• Iberia School system enrollments increased by 750 in October 2005, and stabilized to an additional 450 students in January 2006.
• Peebles Elementary school flooded with four feet of water. The facility closed and 303 students displaced.

Public Health and Healthcare 

Evacuees from Hurricane Katrina increased the population and hence increased demand for services.  Impacts on services from Hurricane Rita are primarily physical damage to community assets used to provide services.

• Delcambre Senior Center is damaged and closed. Services, including Meals-On-Wheels, were interrupted.
• Debris, including compressed gas tanks, in agricultural fields due to flooding, resulting in safety hazards to agricultural workers.

Public Safety

• Delcambre police, fire and city hall facilities flooded and need major repairs.

Transportation and Infrastructure

Transportation and infrastructure damage estimates are currently incomplete. Many essential community assets suffered damage, mostly from storm surge flooding.

• Twenty miles of Louisiana and Delta Railroad track between Abbeville and New Iberia destroyed by Rita.
• Twin Parish Ports channel (Delcambre Canal) shut down by hurricane siltation; boats and barges were stranded. Fishing and shrimping activities were halted by damage and restricted access. According to 2004 figures from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Delcambre was ranked 36th in the nation in value of commercial fishery landings just behind Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL and Juneau, AK. Total landing value of the 2004 catch was $20.7 million.
• The Port of Iberia flooded with two to 10 feet of water, equipment was destroyed; the office reopened mid-January 2006. Natural Gas and petroleum industry fabrication facilities damaged. Preliminary estimates for damage to Port Authority property is over $1,800,000. Private sector losses are even greater at the Port.
• Salt water eroded water, sewer, and gas lines in Delcambre and replacement is necessary.

Housing and Community Development

The impact of Hurricane Katrina on the housing and community development sector of the parish is due largely to the influx of evacuees.

• An estimated 2000 to 10,000 evacuees from Katrina came to Iberia Parish and stayed with friends, family, and in shelters and hotels.
• 549 Temporary Homes (FEMA trailers and mobile homes) set-up in parish.

Hurricane Rita had a more direct impact on the parish. Physical damage to structures, wetlands, economic assets and infrastructure are a direct result of the storm.

• As of February, 2006, Iberia Parish hotels still house more than 250 households from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• Storm surge came 10 to 20 miles inland, past Louisiana Highway 14 and U.S. Route 90.
• Iberia Parish land has subsided up to one foot in rural areas in the last 5 to 10 years. Accelerated coastal erosion due to the hurricanes is currently being estimated and evaluated.
• More than half the homes in Delcambre destroyed (566 of 919).
• More than 900 housing units have damage in excess of 30 percent. The majority were small, affordable, wood frame homes (600 to 1200 sq.ft) and mobile homes. In many cases, the cost of repairs and elevation far exceeds the value of the home.
• More than 80 percent of homes destroyed and damaged had no flood insurance.
• More than 200 homes considered destroyed (not including the Town of Delcambre ).