Sabine flooding expected in Starks (11/6)

Posted November 6, 2009 at 12:40 am
Filed Under News | 3 Comments

By ELONA WESTON
AMERICAN PRESS

Dick Gremillion, director of the Calcasieu Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness, told police jurors Thursday that there will be major flooding along the Sabine River this weekend, specifically in the Starks area.

Gremillion said the river should crest near Starks over the weekend at 28 feet — 4 feet above flood stage. He said officials have been warning residents of rising water and have asked them to stay out of the floodwaters.

He said Texas officials rescued two people in the Sabine River on Thursday and that Louisiana officials rescued one person.

Gremillion said the flood crest is around Bon Weir, Texas, and should reach the Starks area Saturday or Sunday. He said Starks residents can expect some roads to become waterlogged over the weekend.

Gremillion said floodwaters were due to heavy rains in the north Texas area.

Late last week, the Sabine River Authority opened its spillway gates on the Toledo Bend Reservoir due to rising levels. The reservoir wasn’t built for flood control.

Police jurors on Thursday encouraged residents who experience flooding to report damage to their homes on the parish’s Web site.

Pam Mattingly, parish assistant planning director, told the American Press that reporting damage to homes would help the parish plan for future flooding events.

“This is how we track for potential mitigation funding — it’s just giving us another tool,” she said. “And residents can do it at their convenience.”

Ken Harlow, Beauregard Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness director, told Beauregard Parish police jurors on Tuesday that several roads in the Merryville area are closed due to floodwaters.

They are Fish Hole Loop, Old River Dam, Rex Dearmond, Mouth of Creek, Palmer Lake, Bennett Pitt, Browning, Sand Lake and Wingate Camp Road.

•

On the Net: www.cppj.net.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Comments

3 Responses to “Sabine flooding expected in Starks (11/6)”

Thomas LeMaire on November 6th, 2009 7:28 pm

Why don’t the Sabine river authority open the spillway before it become a must do? there would be less water to control down river if the Authority people would listen to the news about when the river would crest, also how much water they can expect at the spillway.
Thomas LeMaire on November 6th, 2009 7:31 pm

I,m Sory about that. Maybe the
American press can ask those questions too Mr. Gremillon. then he can post that on to the Sabine river authority
Gwen Barnes on November 8th, 2009 9:41 pm

I used to live on the main river in Merryville. As i recall, there was never flooding until the dam was built. As a child i used to play in the river bed when there was no water. Since the dam, i had to repair my hope 5 times while living there. So as I see it, the river authority does use the dam to control whether it will flood or not. Stop holding the water for so long and this problem could be resolved.

What's on your mind?

Use this form to comment on the article above. This box is not intended to be a forum for readers to ask questions of the newspaper staff, but to express their thoughts about the article. To contact the News department, e-mail news@americanpress.com.