by Tommy Comeaux
                 The Pointe Coupee Banner           

            Despite a herculean effort initiated by farmers, on Monday, April 7, 2008 the Mississippi Riverbegan flooding the Morganza Spillway forebay and by Tuesday afternoon had completely covered the 6,000 acres of farmland with floodwaters.       

            While the loss of about $4 million in crops is devastating, farmers remain optimistic their efforts were not a complete loss.

                          "We're still hoping to get a soybean crop?that would be our goal," said Jacques LaCour, whose family owns about 1,600 acres of land in the now-flooded forebay.

                  "We're going to push real hard on the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers to get this water out of here as soon as the river level drops below the potato levee," LaCour said. "That's where we're focusing our effort now."

                      "With the floodwaters here and all of our efforts failed, we now turn all of our efforts to seek ways and means of getting the water out," said Allen Monk, the District 1 representative of the Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury.

            Monk said a letter will be sent to Gov. Bobby Jindal, the state's Office of Emergency Preparedness, all state senators and Louisiana Louisiana's representatives in Washington, D.C. , asking for "a permanent solution to this problem."

            LaCour said that since the farmers began beefing up the low potato levee surrounding the forebay on Mar. 21, the plight of the farmers who work the land in the forebay has caught the attention of elected and government officials and he expects those relationships to lead to a solution.

                  "Hopefully, out of all of this, some good will come from a bad situation," LaCour said, adding the failure of the improvised levee improvement was heart-breaking to farmers.

                  "We tried like hell, but we lost," he said. "...It was very disheartening."

            Some who watched the situation develop said heavy rain last weekend in the Mississippi River floodplain moved a crest prediction from Apr. 7 to Apr. 16 and negated the efforts to increase the potato levee's height. The crest prediction date continues to be pushed back.

                  "Those farmers did a hell of a job and the levee probably would?ve held if the river had crested Monday like it was supposed to," said Capt. Tony Plauche, helicopter pilot with the Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff's Office.

                  "If the original crest prediction had held, we?d have had it whipped," LaCour said, adding the rising water took little time to flood the forebay once the temporary levee began to fail.

                  "It was a little over 24 hours it took to fill it up," he said, adding farmers, members of the La. National Guard and representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers knew on Saturday there was nothing else they could do.

                  "I think it was pretty obvious to us Saturday?we knew we were going to run out of time," LaCour said, adding by Sunday morning, "soft spots" were detected in the makeshift levee improvement.

                  On Monday, rising water began topping some portions of the two-mile stretch of newly improved levee and by Monday afternoon, huge breeches were visible from the air, allowing floodwater to pour into the forebay basin.

            LaCour said farmers were thankful for the assistance and support they received from the National Guardsmen, the Corps of Engineers, Gov. Bobby Jindal and others during the crisis.

                  "We have a very deep appreciation for all the help from the public and the government agencies," he said, especially the state officials.

                  "We've really gotten a lot of support from the governor and from Commissioner of Agriculture Dr. Mike Strain?he has been a godsend," LaCour added.

                  Monk said a number of possible permanent solutions to the forebay flooding are being considered, but all will depend on the cooperation of the same officials LaCour thanked for their efforts so far.

                  "There are several options being talked about but ultimately, the decision will have to come from a state and federal level," he said, adding the important thing now is to give farmers the opportunity to salvage a crop from the forebay despite the flood.

                  "From massive pumps to breeching a section of levee, the water will have to be removed quickly if there is any hope to plant a crop this year," Monk continued. "These farmers and landowners deserve a chance to try and recuperate some of their immense losses."

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