8-31-21
Louisiana communities battered by Hurricane Ida are facing a new danger: the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat. Ida ravaged the region’s power grid, leaving the entire city of New Orleans and hundreds of thousands of other Louisiana residents in the dark with no clear timeline on when power would return. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said 25,000 utility workers were in the state to help restore electricity, with more on the way. Still, his office described damage to the power grid as “catastrophic,” and power officials said it could be weeks before electricity is restored in some spots.
New Orleans largely escaped catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Ida, but nearby communities were not so lucky. In LaPlace on the west side of Lake Pontchartrain, Ida tore roofs off homes and flooded entire subdivisions. Residents retreated to their second floors or attics and took to social media to plead for boat rescues as the water rose. That assistance came on Monday, when rescue trucks and boats on trailers took people to safety.
THE MORGAN CITY POLICE CHIEF SAYS HIS OFFICERS ARE HAVING A TOUGH TIME COMMUNICATING BECAUSE CELL PHONE SERVICE WENT DOWN AS WELL AS LAND LINES. CHIEF JAMES BLAIR SAYS THEY ARE GOING BACK TO OLD FORMS OF COMMUNICATION INCLUDING USING V-H-F WALKIE TALKIES. BLAIR POINTS OUT THAT THEY ARE NOT PERFECT BUT WILL DO UNTIL THE SYSTEM IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL AGAIN. HE EXPECTS FULL POLICE COMMUNICATION TO BE RESTORED BY TOMORROW.
MOST PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN ACADIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA WILL REOPEN TODAY AFTER BEING CLOSED IN ANTICIPATION OF HURRICANE IDA. HOWEVER, SAINT MARY PARISH AND VERMILLION PARISH SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED TODAY. STEPHENSVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN LOWER SAINT MARTIN PARISH WILL ALSO BE CLOSED. DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE SCHOOLS WILL REOPEN TODAY EXCEPT FOR SAINT JOHN AND HANSEN MEMORIAL SCHOOLS IN FRANKLIN, VERMILLION CATHOLIC IN ABBEVILLE AND MALTRAIT MEMORIAL IN KAPLAN.
IT’S BEEN DIFFICULT FINDING HOUSES TO BUY OR RENT IN LAFAYETTE AND IT’S EXPECTED TO BE TOUGHER WITH DISPLACED RESIDENTS FROM HURRICANE IDA MAKING CALLS FOR HOUSING. REAL ESTATE AGENT BILLY PRITHCHARD TELLS KLFY TV THAT AGENTS IN THE LAFAYETTE MARKET ARE ON THE HUNT FOR HOUSES FOR DISPLACED CLIENTS. JOHANNA MICHOT HAS SEVERAL RENTAL PROPERTIES IN LAFAYETTE. SHE SAYS THAT SHE AND HER HUSBAND ARE GETTING ONE READY NOW FOR A DISPLACED FAMILY.
RESIDENTS IN LAKE CHARLES, WHO ARE STILL RECOVERING FROM LAST YEAR’S HURRICANES, ARE GATHERING SUPPLIES FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY HURRICANE IDA. THE UNITED WAY OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA IS ACCEPTING DONATIONS AT THEIR RYAN STREET LOCATION THROUGH FRIDAY. THOSE SUPPLIES WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE HOUMA AND THIBODEAUX AREAS, WHICH SUFFERED WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION. DENISE DUREL, THE PRESIDENT AND C-E-O OF THE UNITED WAY OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA, SAYS THEY ARE READY TO GIVE BACK TO THOSE WHO HELPED THEM.
THE BODY OF A LAFAYETTE WOMAN WAS FOUND AT AROUND THREE-TWENTY-FIVE MONDAY MORNING IN THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED BLOCK OF MILLS HIGHWAY IN BREAUX BRIDGE. THE BODY WAS IDENTIFIED AS FORTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD NICOLE HAMILTON. MAJOR GINNY HIGGINS OF THE SAINT MARTIN PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS HAMILTON HAD BEEN SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON THE HOMOCIDE IS ASKED TO CALL SAINT MARTIN CRIME STOPPERS AT FOUR-FOUR-ONE THIRTY-THIRTY.
LOUISIANA STATE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING A CRASH THAT TOOK THE LIFE OF A PEDESTRIAN IN VERMILLION PARISH. SYLVIA MASTERS REPORTS.
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