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Baton Rouge man dismantles part of personal levee, city-parish says it's not enough

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BATON ROUGE- Fed up with flooding, Ken Guidry took matters into his own hands and built a personal levee around his property nestled in the heart of town off Perkins Road near Siegen Lane.

Guidry was sued by the city-parish and ordered to take down all of the fill that was placed in the drainage servitude that makes up the levee. In April, a judge signed a court order forcing Guidry to do it or the city-parish could hire a contractor for the work. Over the past week, Guidry did just that.

Watch Nakamoto's report live here at 6:00

Tuesday, East Baton Rouge Parish Drainage Director Fred Raiford said the work that was done is not adequate and the city-parish is moving forward with plans to put the project out for bid so contractors can remove the remaining fill in the drainage servitude.

"For me protecting my property, I'm in a never-ending battle with the parish," Guidry said. "I always thought government was supposed to help an individual, but I found out the hard way."

Guidry said no matter how much he tries to be cooperative, he doesn't feel like he's getting a fair shake.

"The worst thing I ever did in my life was buy a piece of property in Baton Rouge, because of the politics," Guidry said.

Raiford told us this month that he didn't think the work the parish is going to do to remove the fill would affect the homeowner.

"What we are going to do should be no negative impact to his property," Raiford said. "He may say he may want to divert the water, but it's been running that way forever. All we are trying to do is bring it to its natural concept."

Guidry disagrees and believes the damages have already been done.

"He said it's not going to hurt my property, it's devalued the hell out of my property," Guidry said. "I had it listed, and everybody says the same thing no one wants a flooded property. It's a beautiful piece of property in the middle of Baton Rouge, and it's basically worthless."

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