Preston Joseph Hebert Sr.
October 28, 2008
Olive "Nookie" Sonnier Pitre
October 30, 2008
U.S. Sen. David Vitter will open mobile offices in Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes beginning in November, mainly to handle hurricane-related issues and assist residents needing help with casework.
The Lafourche Parish location will be at the old Wal-Mart building in Mathews at 4876 Louisiana Hwy. 1. The office will be open on Mondays beginning Nov. 3 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The Terrebonne Parish site is at the Town Hall Building, 809 Barrow Street in Houma and will be open on Mondays beginning Nov. 3 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. For St. Mary Parish, the mobile office will be open on Wednesdays beginning Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium at 728 Myrtle Street. For more information, the telephone number for Vitter’s Metairie office is (504) 589-2753.
Vitter visited each of the locations last week.
While in Houma, he talked about the seven miles of non-federal, hurricane-protection levees the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will build near Dulac. The levees were funded by $30 million the senator inserted in the 2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill specifically for Terrebonne Parish.
Vitter said he is confident the levees will be completed by next hurricane season, although the Corps did not begin construction the last two years.
Asked how he got the Corps to move on the project, Vitter said, “I kicked up a lot of dirt and got it in the media. They were embarrassed they did nothing for two years.”
On starting construction on the federal Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system forming a wall against flooding from hurricanes in south Terrebonne, Vitter said the project “is fully authorized but the Corps is dragging its feet,” a phrase he has used several times to describe the Corps’ actions.
U.S. Sen. David Vitter listens as a Terrebonne Parish resident shares her concerns about the recent storms. Vitter’s mobile office was in the Tri-parishes last Monday and Tuesday to assist residents mostly with storm needs. Staff photo by KEYON K. JEFF • Tri-Parish Times
