By Richard Meek
Contributing writer

LAPLACE – Rolling thunder announced an approaching storm, in late spring not a particular concern for most who live outside of Tornado Alley.
For residents of the Foxwood Manor subdivision in LaPlace, however, each flash of lightning is a jolt of the fear in which they live. Foxwood, a subdivision less than 20 years old, has had chronic flood problems since it opened, compounded by the fact the only street in and out of the neighborhood often resembles a Venice thoroughfare.
Even a pedestrian summer storm can leave the streets impassable, occasionally preventing students from being able to attend school.
“We panic,” said one Foxwood resident regarding the trepidation that accompanies every rain event.
“When you live in a neighborhood like this you have to really pay attention and see exactly what the weather is going to do,” said Shawn Anderson, a former member of the Foxwood Homeowners Association Board and a resident of the subdivision for 14 years. “The worst about it is not only do we suffer through hurricane a season, but it’s always a real threat when a rainstorm hits because you have people that can’t get out to go to work. Kids can’t get out to go to school because the buses can’t come back here.
“We are not frustrated anymore. Now we are really (angry).”
Foxwood has been plagued with flooding issues since it was originally developed by Magnolia Homes in 1999. Several councilmen have publicly stated that the parish should have never approved the original construction because of what they claim are obvious flaws in the design.
The neighborhood is west of Belle Terre Boulevard, a short distance from Interstate 10.
“The elevation of the neighborhood is below sea level and is adjacent to the swamp with no protection against tidal influence,” St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom said via an email request from L’Observateur. “The roadway entrance is below the required elevation, which is similar to the (nearby) Homewood subdivision.”
Indeed, the only road providing ingress and egress to the 70-home subdivision sits lower than the nearby LaPlace Plantation canal. It’s obvious to the human eye that when the canal, which borders the eastern edge of the subdivision, overflows, the only route for the water is back into the neighborhood.
Although flooded streets and water on the lawns are common, houses did not flood until Hurricane Isaac, when nearly every home took on at least six inches of water. Louis Chedville’s home, which is located at
the entrance to the subdivision, received nearly 12 inches of tidal water.
“Everybody’s water was draining here and pushing the water (into his house),” Chedville said. “If we were high enough we would have probably not even flooded because we would have drained.
“I think it’s the parish’s fault for not making (the developers) elevate this road to proper elevation. Water flows right here, and it kills my land.”
Anderson agrees that with a proper flood protection system in place homes in the subdivision would have been spared during Isaac.
 “With the amount of water that came in here and with the amount of time that storm stood over us and dumped water, we still had six inches of water inside the houses,” he added. “With any type of system half of the homes would not have received any water.”
Particularly frustrating for residents is inactivity for so many years. In 2005 Daniel Wilcox, then-president of the homeowners association, brought a petition to the parish council seeking relief for the area. The petition, which was signed by Foxwood residents, claimed that baby alligators, trout and blue crabs were found in the standing water during Hurricane Rita.
“Our main concern is just getting acknowledgement,” Wilcox said at the time.
Four years ago residents were told a levee costing $1.4 million would be constructed along the canal and also on the northern flank of the subdivision, which would have protected the area from waters from Lake Maurepas.
Plans included a six-foot levee running the length of the canal, which sits between the subdivision and Belle Terre Boulevard.
Residents said they were told the money was in place and construction would soon begin. In 2011 the council approved hiring an engineering firm to begin the design phase and Councilwoman Jaclyn Hotard said at the time she was happy to see the project “move forward.”
Anderson said he even had copies of the surveys, the amount of money allotted, permits requirements and canal designs, all of which were lost when his house flooded during Isaac.
“Looking at the plans they sent, it made a lot of sense,” he said.
But four years later not a shovel has been turned and the water continues to flow unfettered during rainstorms.
“They had people come back here during surveys, walking my yard, taking measurements, shooting specs,” Anderson said. “Permits and then one minute (later) it’s wetlands, it’s someone owns part of the property on the back side of the neighborhood.
“It’s the same old song and dance.”
Robottom, who is expected to update the project during a town hall meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the LaPlace library, said the pre-applications were completed and approved for all of the Office of Community Development projects, but the projects “did not move forward.”
 She added the firm hired by the previous administration was fired and a new one hired
She told L’Observateur the design is complete and permitting with the Department of Natural Resources is in its final stages.
Residents, however, are skeptical of another in what has been a series of town hall meetings, the most recent coming several seeks ago.
“What has gotten a lot of homeowners back here really aggravated is enough time has passed that something could have been done,” he said “We were all fighting for the same thing, to get something done before this happened to all of our homes.
“Personally I don’t care to hear we got another meeting coming. I heard that.
“We get the most attention during election time,” he added. “Four to six months before the election
(the candidates) get
people believing, get people hyped. Then after the election we don’t hear anything else about it.
“In short, we want to see real movement.”
Also fueling the residents’ anger is their claim the parish will not pick up the debris left behind by floodwaters from any storm event. They said they are forced to pick up the garbage themselves unless the unsightly mess might sit there for a long period of time, despite what Chedville said are repeated requests to the administration.
Robottom said she was unaware of the problem in Foxwood but acknowledged there is a parishwide problem with debris flowing into open ditches and canals during rain events. She advised residents call the Public Works Department with specific concerns and requests.
With a fresh hurricane season on the doorstep, residents are casting wary eyes toward the tropics, understanding the consequences of the canal overflowing again. Robottom said she is currently working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Transportation on interim measures to protect the entire parish, including the potential use of Hesko Baskets, temporary pumps and the elevation of a portion of Interstate 10.
“If they got to throw dirt around here, do something,” resident Jerome Davis said.