Amid push for new stormwater fee, some frustrated EBR homeowners say it's long overdue
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BATON ROUGE - Things in the Morning Glen subdivision looked much different Thursday than they did in May 2021.
"The creek in the back is coming up, and then it backs up here at the drains, so it comes in front and back at my house," homeowner Lynee Crochet said.
Crochet says 16 inches of water came into her house last May. Her car was completely submerged as they evacuated around 4 a.m.
"We weren't even expecting it," she said. "My daughter's dad called her about 11:45 at night, I was already in bed. He asked, 'are y'all okay?' We got up, looked out the window, water was already up in the driveway. 45 minutes later, it was in the house."
Crochet was not alone — several of her neighbors also flooded last year. Everything inside was a total loss.
"We didn't have enough time to raise anything," Crochet said. "The stuff we did raise, we didn't raise high enough."
"The reality is, the city-parish lacks the funding and manpower required to implement an adequate long-term storm water maintenance improvement strategy," Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said during a press conference.
Now, city officials hope to add a storm water fee to help lower the risk of flooding. If passed, Crochet should expect to pay an extra $12 a month.
"Nothing compared to what the floods cost me," Crochet said.
While Crochet and some of her neighbors say they are in support of the new fee, others question why voters can't make the final decision. This is something Crochet says she can see both ways.
"This is such a widespread problem. It seems like something needs to happen and not be up for vote," Crochet said.