Governor John Bel Edwards is traveling across South Louisiana touring storm damage from Wednesday’s severe weather. Edwards and officials will be conducting flyovers of Iberia, St. Charles, Jefferson, and St. Bernard parishes and hold briefings afterward in New Iberia, Hahnville, and Gretna.
The United Way of Southeast Louisiana is encouraging donations to its Tornado Relief Fund to help families impacted by yesterday’s tornadoes. Michael Williamson is President and CEO of United Way of Southeast Louisiana.
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Heavy storm damage was reported in Marrero, and parts of St Bernard Parish, including Arabi. He says they are waiting to get an exact count of how many people lost their homes. There was one fatality Wednesday in St. Charles Parish and on Tuesday two people were killed in a tornado in Caddo Parish.
A tornado in the St. Charles Parish town of Killona caused significant damage to homes and a school on Wednesday afternoon and claimed one life. Parish president Matthew Jewell says about 600 people were without power because of an active gas leak. Jewell says the parish hasn’t caught a break from hazardous weather.
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A recent survey of small businesses says they are more optimistic about business now compared to the beginning of the year, but forty-four percent of owners reported job openings that were hard to fill with a historically high and untypical recession period. NFIB Louisiana spokesman Todd Pack says owners are doing what they can to bring in more workers.