While the devastation of the 2016 flood left many struggling on a long road to recovery, there are just as many stories that deserve to be told about how impactful the community and local organizations have been in the past ten years in an effort to rebuild and better Livingston Parish - and to help the people who work towards repaying that support everyday.
Amite River Basin Commission’s Commitment
The Amite River Basin Commission (ARBC), which championed the creation of the comprehensive Drainage Master Plan - a regionally impactful step towards locating and preventing flooding throughout the capital region - describes the steps they’ve taken in the continued effort to mitigate the potential for future flooding.
"At the time you can only do so much… there's only so much resources and it’s never quick enough,” ARBC President John Clark recalled.
“We would hold our council meetings and people that were impacted by the flooding would come… [and at the meetings] we were trying to talk about what we were doing, what’s going on, the types of relief that we had in place, but… their lives were so turned over and they just wanted to tell somebody. They wanted help.”
“I believe that the outcome of that has made us more aware of what could happen, cause we take certain things for granted,” Clark continued. “Right now, we’re almost in a drought, so who would worry about cleaning a ditch out or anything pertaining to flood prevention?”
Essentially, the flood "catalyzed the reaction of awareness… and it has since put us in that position to where we are now with the Amite River Basin Commission… with a clear mission and focus.”
“We realized that water knows no political boundaries,” Clark concluded.
With the evidence of the flood’s devastation, new members of the overhauled ARBC board realized that projects to combat flooding needed to be put into motion sooner rather than later.
The creation of the Drainage Master Plan was one such project that the ARBC found to be essential to establish a method by which long term future projects can be supported and planned appropriately.
The master plan was created with “input from the community” to help ARBC “identify what's wrong, where it is wrong, and some potential local solutions and regional solutions that can fix problems,” Clark added.
Clark noted that, ultimately, the plan acts as “a blueprint, or steering mechanism that will survive changing administrations, commissioners, and board members…and it will survive and continue to steer us in the right direction to address these flood problems both locally and regionally.”
In addition to finding solutions to these problems, the master plan also helps to leverage future funding by acting as a clear road map to show the community’s drainage needs in writing.
Along with this, Clark stated that the ARBC ensures local projects are done with “consideration of negative downstream impacts, and if we can’t offset those downstream impacts, then it’s not a viable project.”
“There are a lot of projects and ideas that are on the books that are underway right now,” ARBC Chief Advisor Paul Sawyer added. “We have never been better prepared in the capital region's history than we are right now, because with that master plan we know what to expect and we know how to manage [those projects].”
“The progress that has been made in the last five years on these projects is more than [the past ARBC] made in the last 30 years, and that is our influence and working together cooperatively… and holding people accountable,” Clark agreed.
"I have mucked and gutted homes in Denham Springs, Walker, French Settlment… I’ve worked alongside community leaders in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 flood.” Sawyer recalled. “The sense of urgency that we have – we know that we have the resources and the direction, we just have to get moving or get the obstacles out of the way.”
“We're only given a short time on earth and it feels good to make a difference, make things better, to use your education and practical knowledge and it all comes together. It makes you compelled to deliver for the mawmaws, pawpaws, aunts, uncles, cousins, who know something's wrong but don't know how to say it or who to say it to. Getting in the position where you can make a difference… it doesn't happen overnight, but if you keep at it with your heart and passion you get to a place where you can truly make a difference on earth,” Clark concluded.
Mothers & Daughters Work Together
The Mothers & Daughters Gift Shoppe, which has been a staple of the Denham Springs Antique District for around 31 years now, did not escape the disastrous effects of the flood. However, instead of “packing up and moving out” as some did at the time, the shop’s owner, Susan Longmire, expressed that she found strength through the community’s support.
After occupying the building across the street for 20 years, Longmire made the decision to move the store to where it currently resides just three months before the flood hit. And when it did hit, it hit hard.
“My house flooded, my business flooded, my mother’s house flooded, my sister’s house flooded, so it was a terrible, terrible time,” Longmire explained.
“Everything was closed and everyone was hurting, but I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I felt sorry for all of us because we were all in the same boat.”
Longmire described how the flood left a longstanding impact on the building itself, pointing to the floor and explaining that, despite her best efforts to remove it, river mud can still be found under the shop’s flooring.
Longmire added that, during the aftermath of the flood, she and other shopkeepers had help from churches and organizations from throughout the state. Longmire’s own church, First New Testament, “sent out teams that brought us lunch… and people donated cleaning supplies” despite many of the churches’ own congregation having flooded as well.
“We had relatives of relatives, not even blood relatives, that spent two weeks here and had to stay in Covington and drive back and forth… and they got down on their hands and scrubbed the floor… the people like that who gave two weeks of their life to come do that meant everything back then,” Longmire recalled.
“Everytime someone floods in another area of the country, I just want to run to their house and help them…like I've been helped. I just wanna tell them ‘I know what you’re going through, I know what the next six months of your life is gonna be like.’”
Longmire described that the anniversary always “brings back sad memories” but she noted that the quote “sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted” by Christine Caine helped her through a majority of the hardships she faced at that time.
“We never just hit rock bottom,” Longmire explained with a grateful smile. “We’ve been here 31 years and we’ve always done good, even through [the flood] and Covid.”
Before the flood, M&D sold restored furniture along with decorative items and clothes, but after the flood the shop migrated more towards a boutique style, selling jewelry and candles along with decorations and clothes. Ultimately, it took about 3 months after the flood to get the store back up and operational, however business didn’t return to its normal levels until around 9 months after the flood had passed.
In an act of giving back to the community, Longmire’s shop regularly participates in the twice yearly Girls Night Out event in the Denham Springs Antique District.
“I think this area down here will always be special. I really do,” Longmire concluded. “I think it’ll always be good down here. I think it’ll just get better and better.”
Agape Ranch Restored
After enduring the sudden rise of more than 5 feet of water on her ranch property, having to try to secure 15 horses and two miniature horses on the patio of her house, and watching as furniture and possessions were carried away by the waters right in front of her eyes, Sandi McGrew found a well of strength in her faith and the support of the people around her.
Even in its earliest form, Agape Ranch set out to be a beacon for those who visited. The word Agape, according to McGrew, “means God’s unconditional love” and so McGrew found that “the vision was there and then the circumstances of life just walked me towards the vision.”
That theme of unconditional love and support followed McGrew through the heaviest of times and even further beyond them.
During the recovery period from the flood, McGrew recalled that she received help from all manner of people across the country. First, two boats pulled up on the ranch filled with veterinarians from Louisiana State University (LSU) and they helped take in the horses who, at that point, were suffering from standing in water for several days.
“All of a sudden I see a sea of purple and gold coming down in boats to take care of the horses,” McGrew recalled. “It was a godsend.”
Batman, a horse who suffered from raw, shedding skin due to prolonged water exposure, was one of the last horses to return home from LSU and is thankfully still “doing wonderful” at the ranch today.
McGrew also had help from the members of Women in Construction, an organization that teaches women trade skills to help them in life. Through their efforts of construction and cleanup, the ranch slowly began the process towards restoration. 20 volunteers from the University of Southern Mississippi also arrived to help with the additional steps that were required to get the ranch up and running again.
McGrew noted that all of this led her to the understanding that, as a steward of the ranch, she wanted to give back to the community and help others as she was helped in her time of need.
“Out of the storm, a new vision came,” McGrew explained. “So when it was time to rebuild, I rebuilt with a purpose.”
Currently, Agape Ranch hosts exercise programs, weddings, birthday parties, and equine therapy sessions, and camps for at-risk children.
“There are kids that come out here that have never heard a cat purr, or have never fished before. [Through these camps] they’re making lifetime memories,” McGrew added.
McGrew is in the process of working on her certifications so the ranch can qualify for a 501(c) nonprofit title, allowing her to partner with insurances and counselors to expand her equine therapy services for wounded veterans and children with special needs.
McGrew also partners with the local school boards who send children enrolled in Individual Educational Programs (IEP) to help clean the barns and take care of the horses as part of their work program.
Additionally, McGrew started an organization called The Friends Club for special needs individuals. The organization schedules field trips to the ranch where participants can enjoy planned activities such as parties and lunches while enjoying the animals and scenery.
When asked about the future of the ranch, McGrew answered that she will focus on “just giving back, sharing the joy of nature,” noting that “every decision that’s been made, every opportunity that has come up between [the flood] and now is leading me towards giving back as I was given to.”
“I lost everything, but I gained so much,” McGrew concluded.
