Ike's flood waters begin to recede allowing staff to return to CARS.

The Coastal Area Research Station (CARS) located just north of Port Sulphur, on Highway 23 has had its share of hurricane impacts, most recently Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.  Post-Katrina building replacement continues with the architectural plans nearly finalized for a football field-sized platform which will include a dormitory, workshop, and laboratory.  Heavy equipment will be stored underneath the structure, but can be moved to safety atop the platform when high waters threaten.  Also underway are plans for “wet-proof” renovations to the main office building which was completed mere days before Katrina made landfall.

During the largest evacuation in United States history, CARS staff prepared the station for the impact of Hurricane Gustav, as they kept in mind Katrina and its aftermath.  As the storm made landfall in nearby Terrebonne Parish on September 1, 2008, another tropical depression was forming, later to be named Ike.  Station damages from Gustav were primarily wind-related: broken tree limbs, torn siding, and ripped shingles.  Less than two weeks after Gustav made landfall, Hurric

Days after Ike, most areas of the station are easier to access by boat.

ane Ike hit the coastal town of Baytown, Texas over 300 miles west of CARS.  Storm surge from Ike inundated the station with nearly three feet of water in places and temporarily obstructed road access to the facility.  Most of the station’s heavy equipment such as tractors, back-hoe, and loader were spared any damage primarily due to the efforts of resident research associate Fred LaRue who spent hours in pre-hurricane conditions to move the equipment to higher ground on the abandoned railroad bed.  No stranger to hurricane damage and recovery, staff members were quick to get CARS cleaned up and operating again.

One of the main results of the storms was the delay of the completion of the research ponds which is funded by a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant.  Four of the eight ponds are now finished with the remaining ponds not far behind as the bottoms are being leveled with a laser guided box

Joe Alexis, Farm Manager, operates the laser guided box blade scraper.

blade scraper. A 5225 John Deere tractor and brush seed harvester were also purchased with HUD monies.  A pipeline, over the Mississippi River levee, that provides water for filling the research ponds has been replaced according to United State Corps of Engineering standards.

Ironically and despite its continued encounters with hurricanes, the Coastal Area Research Station’s location in Plaquemines Parish seems an optimal place to conduct research to minimize hurricane impacts, especially storm surge, for the entire coast of Louisiana.