Camp owners being convoyed to Grand Isle
Homeowners and camp owners are being allowed onto Grand Isle, but only in convoys led by local authorities because Louisiana Highway 1 east of Fourchon was heavily damaged by Hurricane Isaac, LouisianaSportsman.com has learned.
“The road is washed out the whole way, but they’re letting people come down in convoys,” Louisiana Sportsman’s Tony Taylor said this afternoon while driving to check on his family’s cap on Grand Isle. “They’re convoying people in if you have a camp or home on the island.”
The road between Golden Meadow and Fourchon is in good shape, Taylor said, and marinas seemed to be in working condition.
“Bobby Lynn’s (Marina) is all cleaned up; Moran’s (Marina) is cleaned up,” he said. “Right now, I’m coming across the bridge to Grand Isle, and I’m looking at Bridge Side (Marina). It looks like it’s in really good shape.”
Bobby Gros, owner of Bobby Lynn’s Marina, said his marina was damaged, but that it wasn’t a “business-ending” event.
“We’re surviving,” Gros said. “We have a considerable amount of damage (but) all of our piers are intact; all of our cabins are intact.”
He said it looked like the storm surge reached 5 to 6 feet, dumping a huge load of mud around the boat sheds and RVs on his property.
“The water (level) looks almost exactly like what we got for Hurricane Gustav,” Gros said. “The eye wall basically came right over the top of us. And we were on the wrong side of the storm.
“The boat sheds are damaged, and we’ve got mud everywhere.”
All that said, Gros plans to have the marina up and running a couple of days after power is restored.
“As soon as we get power — hopefully 72 hours, three days — we’ll be back in business,” he said.
Gros said he knew people want to help the recovery, and that there was a simple way to do so.
“If people want to help us, they can plan a couple of extra trips down here and spend a little bit of extra money with us,” Gros said. “That would damn sure help.”
However, it would be best to stay away for a week or so, he said.
“We’re asking people not to come down until the weekend after next,” Gros said. “The best thing people can do is stay away this weekend. Right now the tides are still extremely high, and people down here need to put stuff back together right now. The more room you give us the quicker we can do that.
“You’re not helping coming down this weekend. If you don’t belong, don’t come down. Give us a week, and then call your favorite marina and see if they’re in business.”
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