Work on canals has begun in wake of Hurricane Barry

After a 15-inch rain caused by Hurricane Barry which flooded most of Ville Platte, city workers have begun clearing clutter and debris from the city’s canals.
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine has been overseeing the cleanup process and said, “They’ve been at it since last Tuesday morning. They’re going to each canal and everything that they can clean up in there, they’re doing it. A lot of the water from the storm brought the debris and trash to the surface where we can get to it, but there are still parts we need to get to. We’re ready, but we’re waiting to schedule it with the police jury to work in concert with us to be at the edge to pick it up once we’re done. We’re going to put a tractor down in the canals to scrape them.”
Mayor Vidrine added, “Thankfully with all the rain we got, the canals drained out. The next morning, the water was all down.”
Mayor Vidrine further said the workers often find a hodgepodge of items in the city’s canals. “It’s amazing. They’re finding furniture, microwaves, stoves, doors, mattresses, trash cans, tires, etc. We’re just asking people to call Solid Waste at 363-7254, and they will come pick it up in a matter of hours.”
One of the city workers said they found baskets and personal trash in bags that people throw into the canals. They’ve even found shopping carts. “It was just ridiculous to see what came out of those canals,” said Mayor Vidrine.
The mayor said they are taking out several truck-loads of trash and debris from each canal. She said there are three workers per canal, and all departments are working together. She said they are in the process of bringing on ten part-time employees to help with the clean up. Mayor Vidrine said the storm impeded the regular city work, such as cutting grass, so they can deal with storm clean up.