Moore told property owners Sunday that approvals are being secured and that work on Tanglewood’s flood problem is expected to begin in October of this year
Landlords and residents were pleasantly surprised Sunday evening as Police Juror Pat Moore moved through the neighborhood explaining how flood relief for Tanglewood would be implemented.
Sunday evening, Moore talked to residents in their homes and took a few to show them how the $3.5 million funding the Police Jury received from the state will help reduce 80 percent of the flooding in the Tanglewood community beginning this year.
Moore took small groups of residents and landlords to Raccoon Bayou, the area that causes most of Tanglewood’s flooding issue to explain how the funding approved by Governor John Bel Edwards will be used in Tanglewood. After hard rains, Raccoon Bayou, which is filled with foliage and debris, backs up and floods the area and expands to other communities.
She said Phase one of the project is to get the funding, which has been done. Phase two will involve securing permissions from property owners to allow dredging equipment and operations on their property. She said the Police Jury expects this part of the project to be completed by October.
She said the actual work of clearing out Raccoon Bayou, building levees and acquiring mobile pump stations will probably begin in October. “By this time next year, 80 percent of the flooding in Tanglewood will be solved,” she said.
The Albert Skinner family, which owns 97 properties in Tanglewood, was on hand Sunday to see first-hand how the flood project would be implemented. The Skinners and other property owners have pledged to renovate and reopen their properties using USDA connections Moore arranged for them.
Moore praised property owners for working with her to help get funding for a problem that has vexed the community for over 30 years. “I asked you to board up the vacant houses, keep the grass cut and remove all debris, while we worked to get the funding and you did that,” she said speaking to property owners and residents.
She was joined in her conversations by Roosevelt Wright, Jr, pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, who recalled how he assembled large numbers of youth to help fill and deliver sandbags during the 2005 and 2016 floods. “She came begging for help. She kept saying, “I got to get help for the people, please help. Please.”
Wright said when volunteers didn’t come quick enough, Moore repeatedly loaded sandbags in her own vehicle and waded through rising waters to deliver them to the elderly.
“It’s hard to turn her down when she locks on to a project,” Wright said. “She did all of that just as a police juror,” he added.”There is no telling what she can do as a state representative.”
Moore is a candidate for District 17 State Representative in elections this month.
One resident told Moore that she hopes efforts to help Tanglewood would continue. She praised Moore for working to help residents.
Moore had high words of praise for Governor John Bel Edwards, Representative Katrina Jackson, and former Representative Marcus Hunter who helped get the funding.
Congratulations to Mrs. Moore!! A job well done!! When God calls His children to do a task, He will equip and prepare them. He equipped you with perseverance, humility, self-control and patience. And prepared you for the results. My parents moved to Tanglewood over 40 yrs ago and still have the home occupied by my brother. My father, before he passed, believed in you. That says a lot about a person, because my father was a very old-fashioned man. He always said ” a person’s word is his or her bond”. He’s dead and gone but you kept your word. You didn’t give up on the poor. As the Lord said in His words, “when you do it to the least, you do it unto me.” May God’s blessings continue to shine upon and thru you.