Stormy day for coaches

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 6, 2008 - Page: 5C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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By late Thursday afternoon, Zachary High football coach Bob Howell could laugh about what transpired in the 24 hours following Hurricane Gustav.

Howell, who has built the Broncos into a consistent winner, faced an opponent he had no real game plan for.

Rising water from the storm threatened his home and those of several other coaches who live in the Zachary area near Rollins Road.

“We have drainage culverts and then I have a creek that runs along behind my house,” Howell said. “When I look out my back door, I always think I have a pretty nice set up.

“A couple of times on Tuesday I was wishing I didn’t have all that. The water got all the way up to the foundation of the house. My neighbor and I put sand bags to block the doors. It was too close.”

Glen Oaks High coach Vernon Langley lives less than 200 yards from Howell. His storm issues began soon after the storm ripped through the neighborhood.

“Our subdivision didn’t get hit by it, but we could hear the tornado that came through Zachary,” Langley said. “It sounded like a large aircraft.

“Then water started coming up behind the houses. I jumped in my wife’s truck and ran to Baker to get sand bags.”

Later, Langley was awakened from a nap by his 8-year-old son, Vernon III, who said, “Dad, come quick the grass is going to die.”

Langley saw water rising again, this time getting less than 4 feet from his house. Storm debris in the culvert, including parts of a fence and tree limbs caused a blockage that Langley and his neighbors removed. The neighbors also opened a series of a drain caps to alleviate flooding.

“I’ve lived in Zachary all my life and this is the worst damage I’ve ever seen,” West Feliciana High coach Robb Odom said. “I didn’t have a lot of damage, but some of my neighbors got hit hard.

“My dad lost his work shed. There’s one street that looks like a war zone. You’ve got trees down and power lines.”

Coincidentally, the same stream that runs behind Howell’s house also runs near Odom’s home, prompting Howell to jokingly say there was sabotage involved, since Zachary was scheduled to play West Feliciana this week — a game that was canceled.