Cameron Parish--Priority Issues

As a result of Hurricane Rita, Cameron Parish is facing an unprecedented and daunting rebuilding effort. The southern part of the parish and its 5 coastal communities were completely wiped out, and all communities in the north were severely damaged.  It is estimated that 4,400 structures were destroyed, another 2,200 severely damaged, and 77% of all homes in the parish either completely destroyed or severely damaged. In Cameron, the parish seat for governmental operations, only 2 buildings survived.

Economic and Workforce Development

• Need to identify and develop financial support that will allow the commercial fishing industry/harvesters to repair/replace vessels and rebuild the necessary infrastructure to get the industry back up and running.
• Workers for the oil & gas, petrochemical and maritime industries need to have their housing rebuilt so that they can return to the parish and their jobs.
• The gas, oil, and petrochemical industries need to have a labor force trained in industry-appropriate skills.
• Need a quick economic development stimulus such as dredging the old river loop and adding access to Monkey Island to generate short- and long-term increase in tax revenue.
• Debris and salt water intrusion has altered eco-tourism industry and opportunities. Parish needs to study and identify the tourism opportunities (Scenic Byways, National and State Wildlife Refuges, guide services) as a means of diversifying the economy.

Environmental Management

• Many natural areas - particularly the Federal and State Wildlife Refuges - are still littered with tons of debris, much of it hazardous and unqualified for Corps of Engineers removal assistance. Need to identify partnerships, programs and mechanisms for continued monitoring and removal of debris. This also impacts the local economy. 
• Protect and maintain the remaining coastal wetlands and reclaim what has been lost to erosion - which was made worse by Rita. 
• Dredge materials from shipping channel currently unavailable for Cameron to use. Cameron needs to be allowed to use dredge materials from shipping channel for wetland restoration and flood protection activities.
• Protect and preserve the wildlife and recreation opportunities associated with the land and wildlife - hunting, fishing, and bird watching. These activities are also important to the local economy and have been damaged by Rita.
• Manmade waterways such as the shipping channel and the GIWW  have caused ecological imbalances to the area (salt water intrusion, etc.). These negative impacts were exacerbated by the storm surges of Rita.

Flood Protection and Coastal Restoration

• Parish experiences a problem with secondary flooding due to storm water runoff from the GIWW and inland parishes. This was especially a problem after Rita. Need to look at ways to mitigate these secondary floods.
• Protect and maintain the remaining coastal wetlands and reclaim what has been lost to erosion - which was made worse by Rita.  
• Protect and restore the coastal cheniers to serve as the natural, first line of storm protection. Hurricanes, sand mining and cutting down of the oak groves for cattle grazing have all contributed to the degradation of these natural storm barriers.
• Due to subsidence, Cameron parish has lost many of its elevation reference points. Accurate elevation data will be necessary to ensure that community is rebuilding to proper elevations to reduce future flood risk.

Human Services

• Restore the library services to an appropriate level: rebuild and repair 6 libraries - 4 destroyed and 2 damaged. Local capacity for coordinating all governmental and public building projects needs to be developed.
• Coordination and support for the on-going efforts to rebuild 4 community centers and 1 recreation district facilities and determine appropriate uses and programming. Local capacity for coordinating all governmental and public building projects needs to be developed.

Education

• Need to restore the school system to an appropriate level: rebuild and repair 6 schools - 3 destroyed and 3 severely damaged.   Local capacity for coordinating all governmental and public building projects needs to be developed.

Public Health and Healthcare 

• Need to restore necessary health care facilities and services that were destroyed (hospital, clinics, health unit building, private doctor and dental offices, and teleconference/telemedicine equipment) to an appropriate level.

Public Safety

• Parish needs to build a new Justice Center Campus to house all parish operations that were lost. Cameron, the parish seat and the center for governmental operations (Courthouse Circle), was completely destroyed.
• After Rita, Parish operations were scattered across the region. The parish government needs an auxiliary/multi-purpose building - located on higher ground - that will allow them to fully operate out of during emergency conditions, thus providing continuity of services to citizens.
• Parish needs a geographic information system (GIS) with parish wide application to record, track and display plans and activities during recovery and afterwards.
• Coordination and support for the on-going efforts to rebuild 5 fire stations. Local capacity for coordinating all governmental and public building projects needs to be developed
• Coordination and support for the on-going efforts to rebuild the Mosquito Control unit. Local capacity for coordinating all governmental and public building projects needs to be developed.

Transportation and Infrastructure

• State Highways 82 and 27 - both evacuation routes - were severely damaged (shoulders and bridges) and need to be repaired to carry evacuation, support commercial/industry traffic and to promote tourism. Damaged done by Rita is being compounded by the impacts caused by all the heavy truck and equipment being used for post-Rita cleanup.
• Wastewater/sewer system needs to be repaired and upgraded; Holly Beach needs a new community sewer; Cameron needs to repair and upgrade system to meet current standards; and parish needs to support inspections and enforcement of standards of systems throughout the parish.
• Issues of connectivity throughout the parish need to be assessed - this includes: access to Monkey Island, replacing the ferry and a ship channel crossing that also promotes economic development.
• All 6 water districts were damaged. Repairs and improvements still need to be made to above ground facilities. Also need to address the line capacity to service current and future populations. Grand Lake district is experiencing sudden growth as many displaced residents have relocated to that community.

Housing and Community Development

• Parish needs to establish an office or entity to manage all rebuilding efforts; to develop and strengthen Parish capacity to coordinate and implement rebuilding and repairing housing and all structures including.
• Replace the elderly housing units lost and provide housing alternatives in response to the elevation requirements that will prevent the elderly from rebuilding and returning to the parish.
• Identify and determine land use inventory and land use controls that will allow the community to make decisions as to how to rebuild and where to rebuild. 
• Need coordination and for all the public and governmental building projects that will be rebuilt in Cameron - could be a master facilities plan.
• Parish needs answers to the many uncertainties that it is facing such as, elevation requirements, flood zone maps, and insurance coverage - all of which require tough policy decisions to be made at the local, state and federal levels.