Vermilion Considers Flood Walls To Protect Schools

ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — School officials in Vermilion Parish are moving ahead with plans for a concrete wall and pump system to protect more of the parish's schools from floodwaters.

They are determined not to see a replay of problems encountered with flooded schools following Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008.

The Advocate reports the latest project calls for spending $2.8 million to erect a concrete wall more than five feet high and install a pump system to protect Erath High and the adjacent Erath Middle School.

The project is the fourth FEMA-funded flood wall project designed to protect schools in the coastal parish from flooding.

Gene Sellers, the project's engineer, says FEMA is funding 75 percent of the Erath wall with the Vermilion Parish School Board covering the remaining costs.