BAYOU GAUCHE, La. -- For days, heavy flooding has dogged parts of St. Charles Parish.
"I've been here 39 years, and I have never seen this water up like this, never," said Kenneth Thompson, a Bayou Gauche homeowner.
Thompson is doing what he can to keep his home dry, like cleaning debris out of the drains in his front yard.
But with a threat of heavy rain looming and the water sitting a few feet from his doorstep, he's on edge.
"It's supposed to be anywhere from two to three inches coming in (Thursday night),” he said. “Well another two or three more inches, I ain't gonna have a house. I'm gonna be completely underwater."
By mid-day Thursday, St. Charles officials received reports of flood damage at 113 homes and businesses, and the calls keep coming in at the parish emergency operations center.
Officials dispatch crews as they get new information about problem areas.
Public works employees fanned out, shoring up weak spots with piles of sandbags.
St. Charles Emergency Preparedness Director Scott Welchel said it's been a challenging few days.
"You just have to sit there and fight it as the problems arise," Welchel said. "It's been non-stop."
Just off LA Highway 306, some residential areas and streets are blocked off and inaccessible -- a reason crews spent the day handing out supplies to those residents still surrounded by water.
"We're doing damage assessments, passing out clean up kits, seeing if anybody needs further assistance, if they need shelter," said Collins Feeser, an American Red Cross representative. "It's a mess. There's a lot of water, a lot of homes we haven't been able to get out to, we've just yelled to people on their porches."
Some folks near Bayou Gauche are frustrated with what they believe is an outdated, ineffective pumping system in the area.
Parish officials confirm that one pump was down for a while, but they say pumps are now running at full capacity.
In all, there are 46 pump stations across St. Charles parish, but officials warn, they can’t keep up with major rain events.
"When you look at the amount of rain we've received, at some point you just saturate completely the entire basin, and you essentially get in an area where you're just pumping water around onto itself," Welchel said.
For now, officials say they'll do what they can to minimize flooding, while residents can only hope they'll be spared from another lengthy downpour.
"I'm just fed up, completely fed up with it," Thompson said.
