Recovery painfully slow at state park

Published 6:00 am Sunday, May 13, 2018

It’s painfully obvious, and sad, that the mid-August 2016 flood here in the heart of Acadiana was devastating to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park. 

It has looked like a ghost town in the wild since that week and subsequent days in which water inundated one of the crown jewels of the state park system. The state park along the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee, which opened in 1985, still hasn’t recovered.

There is a glimmer of hope. On Friday, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Office of State Parks announced the state park’s campground facilities will open May 21.

Campsites 23-50 will reopen first, according to a prepared statement. The rest of the campground will open upon completion of the previously scheduled renovation of the bathhouse.

Repairs to the 18 beautiful and highly popular rental cabins are a work in progress, though. They won’t be ready any time soon.

Eleven of the cabins are being bid out for repairs to begin within the next 60 days and may reopen by late summer or early fall this year. The other seven cabins require more repairs and probably won’t reopen before late winter or early spring of next year.

Some activity on state park grounds could be seen from the water Friday afternoon. It was eery and, again, sad to see it virtually empty at a time when visitors flock to the cabins and the campsites.

Lake Fausse Pointe State Park had 12,978 visitors for 2016-17 at the time the relentless rains came in August 2016. Lake Dauterive-Fausse Pointe’s waters filled bayous and canals, which rose out of their banks.

The floodwaters impacted vuildings and campground utilities for water and electricity, shorting out the latter. Water was as high as 4 feet in places where people barbecued, players and enjoyed a home away from home in Iberia Parish.

Park roads and the campgrounds were damaged. So were the cabins because high water seeped into the floors, which warped, and caused mild to moderate mold damage.

That’s good that outdoorsmen who enjoy the campground can return in a week. To make reservations, call 877-226-7652.

It’s a shame people who enjoy staying in the cabins cannot do that for the unforeseen future. We  hope the state diligently moves the process along to get them ready as soon as possible.

DON SHOOPMAN

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR