(Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted to L’OBSERVATEUR Tuesday evening/Aug. 29.)

We’re watching the water come up again, and it’s getting to me and my neighbors.

Right now the water has gotten to the railroad tracks about 100 yards from my house and is backing up, and we are afraid we will flood again. Mentally and physically, I cannot have my house flood again.

I have gone before the Council with pictures of the drainage problems. Nothing has been done.

The Garyville Canal is blocked with trees and different kinds of growth. The Parish will not dig it out. That canal drains all of Garyville and Mt. Airy. The water cannot spread into the swamp and go into Lake Maurepas.

It cannot get under the railroad tracks to drain. The main canal running from Airline Highway to the railroad closest to the river needs to be dug.

The Parish had started cleaning some of the canals closer to the levee, but Mrs. Robottom stopped the work. She told my councilman that it was private property.

In one of the canals they cut the trees, but left the stumps. Fantastic!

The whole length of the canal along Highway 54 is totally overgrown. The water cannot get to the other side of Highway 54 because the drains under the roads are blocked.

I can’t understand why Mrs. Robottom is so set against preparing for these storms. The only thing she offered were sand bags.

The Parish has the equipment and manpower to do the job. After my last appearance before the Council, they said they would put a drainage crew in the three sections of the parish to keep the drains open. It never happened.

Must we file a lawsuit against the parish and its president?

— Burt Cashio, Garyville