Tourism official: Flood shows La.’s resiliency

Recent widespread flooding in parts of south Louisiana will once again show residents’ resiliency and the state’s great outdoor opportunities for visitors, a state tourism official said Wednesday.
Doug Bourgeois, director of the Byways collection for the state Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, spoke during the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce Business Luncheon at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City.
Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser was scheduled to speak. However, he couldn’t attend the luncheon because he was called into a meeting with Gov. John Bel Edwards about the recent flood disaster in Louisiana.
As of Wednesday, 60,000 people had signed up for federal assistance “following the historic flooding across south Louisiana,” Bourgeois said. Over 40,000 homes were damaged and over 30,000 people were rescued since Friday. Eleven people have been confirmed dead as a result of the flooding and 20 parishes have been declared federal disaster areas.
Anyone who wants to volunteer or make donations to assist in the flood relief may visit volunteerlouisiana.gov, a part of the Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, Bourgeois said.
“I’ve been in tourism since 2000, and it seems like normal doesn’t quite describe what we have on an everyday occurrence,” Bourgeois said. “We’ve lived through a lot … but we’ve all pulled together. And I think that’s a statement to the people of Louisiana.”
Bourgeois, a Thibodaux native, is in charge of the scenic byways program in Louisiana. In 1992, the Federal Highways Administration started the national program “to get people off the interstate to rediscover all those treasured places that kind of have been left behind,” Bourgeois said.
In 2005, state tourism officials determined the best way to showcase Louisiana and bring more people to the state would be through the scenic byways program. Then, Hurricane Katrina hit. Several years later, leaders were still trying to convince tourists that “we weren’t under water,” Bourgeois said.
“We had lots of losses. We grieved our losses. But we rebuilt, and we moved forward,” he said.
In 2008 and 2009, Bourgeois and other leaders revisited implementing the scenic byways program in Louisiana “because we wanted to move people to all parts of the state,” he said.
Today, there are 18 scenic byways in the state representing 2,400 miles of “treasured routes,” Bourgeois said. The Bayou Teche Scenic Byway, which runs through St. Mary Parish, is among those.
Though a byway is a roadway, the story goes “well beyond the road,” he said. Officials are publishing maps for each byway that visitors can pick up at tourist centers and are putting up interpretative panels along the byways.
State officials and Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau are also working to establish the Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail, which will “tell the story of water in Louisiana,” Bourgeois said.
“Water really defines us, especially in south Louisiana,” Bourgeois said.
Some sites along the trail in St. Mary Parish include the flood wall in Morgan City, Mr. Charlie oil rig museum, Lake Palourde, the state museum in Patterson and three spots along Bayou Teche in the parish.