New Vermilionville Living Bayou Exhibit Dedicated to 2016 Floods
(Left-right) Brandon Champagne, Friends of Bayou Vermilion; Stephen Broussard, Executive Director of Bayou Vermilion District; Karen Hail, Board President of the Bayou Vermilion District Commission; Angela Blanchard, Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District; and Kent LaBry, Lafayette Utilities System.
LAFAYETTE, La. – On Saturday, Aug. 15, at 10 a.m., the Bayou Vermilion District (BVD), along with its partners, the Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) and Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District, dedicated the new Living Bayou exhibit in commemoration of the August 2016 floods in Acadiana.
Saturday’s dedication of the Living Bayou Exhibit also reflected on the innovations established since then to prevent or mitigate a catastrophic flood on the scale of the August 2016 floods.
Read about Acadiana’s resilient response to the August 2016 floods through stories from three locals.
From Vermilionville
Organizers share that in August 2016, three days of rain and more than two feet of water threatened to drown Louisiana, with the unprecedented flood taking the lives of 13 people in Louisiana and devastating homes and businesses in 22 parishes, including Lafayette.
The Living Bayou Exhibit
The new Living Bayou Exhibit in Vermilionville features:
- Signage installation on the banks of the Vermilion for visitors to read about the event and the resulting changes
- Explore a photo exhibit of the damage, rescues and aftermath of the flood
- Later, an additional collection will feature personal stories from the flood, highlighting the resilience of residents. BVD will collect personal stories and photos, which can be uploaded online.
The Living Bayou Exhibit was made possible by support from LUS, Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District and an Atchafalaya Wild Grant from the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.
Other Bayou Vermilion Exhibits
The Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park, located on the banks of Bayou Vermilion at 300 Fisher Rd., also features three other permanent exhibits preserving the life, culture and history of Vermilionville. The exhibits are:
- Travailler C’est Trop Dur: The Tools of Cajun and Creole Music
- This exhibit touches on the preservation of Cajun and Creole music while recognizing “the traditional instrument makers who provided performers with the tools of their trade, particularly those who plied their craft at a time when store-bought instruments were either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.”
- Maison des Cultures
- A 19th-century house that serves as the first structure and introduction to the museum and cultures it represents.
- Village Living History Display and Philosophy
- The museum shares that the Living History Display, covering over 16,000 square feet, recreates the past using action, animation, discovery, involvement and participation.
