BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — East Baton Rouge (EBR) Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome says officials are making headway in improving local drainage issues.
Broome said, “We are full steam ahead on our drainage initiative in East Baton Rouge Parish,” and referred to a pipe repair that was carried out Thursday in the Pollard Estates neighborhood.
Image courtesy of City of Baton Rouge
The mayor went on to report that at present, the Parish has repaired 94 catch basins, 48 sinkholes, and 35 drainage pipes, in addition to removing 14.6 million pounds of debris from 51.6 miles of storm drains and pipes.
She added that 20,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed from Bayou Manchac, which drains much of the southern half of EBR.
During the infamous 2016 Flood, thousands of Baton Rouge residents were forced to repair or completely leave behind homes that were inundated with water.
Even Mayor Broome found herself faced with the arduous challenge of disaster relief when her home flooded that year.
Since taking office, Broome implemented the Stormwater Master Plan in response to mitigate flooding concerns, and millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act have been funneled into various drainage projects.
Click here to follow the progress of the American Rescue Plan Drainage Initiative.
