The Capital Region was especially hard-hit by the Louisiana Flood of 2016, but life for many—though hardly all—is finally on the road to recovery, as Business Report details in its new cover package.
It’s been one year since that once-in-a-millennium storm swamped much of south Louisiana. The heavy rains and floods killed 13 people, displaced tens of thousands of others, destroyed some 60,000 houses and caused an estimated $8.7 billion in damages across 20 parishes. Mother Nature’s wrath was especially cruel here as the rain came so fast it was more than the Amite, Comite and Tickfaw rivers could handle. And when those rivers surged over their banks, fast-moving waters from streams, canals and bayous fanned out across neighborhoods from Baker to Central to southeast Baton Rouge as well as cities in Livingston Parish.
The new cover package examines how the people and businesses of the Baton Rouge area have attempted to move forward over the past 12 months. We looked at how officials and homeowners from hard-hit areas are scrambling to rebuild, asking ourselves if we’re tempting fate by not changing how and where we rebuild?
There were predictions shortly after the floodwaters receded that out-of-state investors would flock to the area, looking to scoop up flood-damaged properties on the cheap, do some repairs and then flip them for a quick profit. That didn’t happen, however, because homeowners chose to stand their soggy ground.
Stephanie Riegel caught up with a group of small business owners from a strip shopping center in Livingston Parish that served as something of a community gather spot in this rural hamlet. We were moved by their stories a year ago and it is interesting to see who bounced back big and who hasn’t come back at all.
We also went inside the numbers to get a sense for how many businesses in the region have reopened over the past 12 months.
Check out the complete cover package, and send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
