Déjà vu.

It seems that way for most residents of St. Tammany Parish.

First Hurricane Gustav and now Hurricane Ike has left portions of the parish under water from high tidal surges.

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“It’s about 8 inches higher than Gustav’s surge and about 16 inches lower than Katrina,” Madisonville Mayor Peter Gitz said Friday at the peak of the flooding.

Ike’s Category 2 winds sent nearly 8 feet of storm surge into the northern shores of Lake Pontchartrain, swelling bayous and tributaries like the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville in its wake. Several feet of water covering most of the town had the majority of the streets closed Friday. But with the high water, Gitz said only a few businesses and homes were flooded.

Unfortunately, the same structures that flooded from Gustav a dozen days ago received water again, particularly in Mandeville where Mayor Eddie Price said more than 7 feet of water covered Lakeshore Drive.

“The police department rescued a couple from their home on the Lakefront,” Price said, adding his city also received several power outages from downed trees.

Water began spilling the banks of the Lake last night, Price said, collecting across most of southern Mandeville, shutting down numerous streets.

“I’d compare this to Gustav and Rita,” Price said. “It may even be higher.”

In some places, where the water was highest, cars floated alongside debris.

“A lot of people I talked to today are thinking we need to take another look at other avenues to let the water out of here,” Price said referring to the gravity-fed drainage system 95 percent of the city boasts. “When you have gravity-fed drainage, you give up a little bit of protection to get a whole lot of view.”

At least there’s something positive about Ike making landfall right behind Gustav, Price said.

“If it had to happen, this would be the best time for it when people haven’t made any major fixes to their homes yet from Gustav.”