Beauregard Electric Co-op customers can expect to be without power for at least four weeks. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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Lake Charles is going to need a lot of outside help if it’s going to recover from Hurricane Laura. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Louisiana’s death toll from Hurricane Laura is up to 14 and more than half of the fatalities are from carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators. State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says gas-powered generators produce carbon monoxide which is odorless and colorless
Browning says when using a generator, it should be at least 20 feet away from your home…
Browning says it’s also important to avoid trying to refuel a generator when it’s still hot…
Cut 5 (11) “…that generate cool.”
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Beauregard Electric Co-op tells its customers to be prepared to be without power for at least the next four weeks. Co-op spokesperson Danielle Tilley says they’ve brought in 500-600 additional storm restoration workers to cut trees, reset poles and make repairs to more than 5,700 miles of line.
Cut 6 (13) “…meters are running.”
Tilley says substations and transmission lines will be repaired first and then service lines, but substations will not be able to receive power until its larger transmission lines are functioning again.
Tilley says with the level of damage received from the storm, some customers may be out of power even longer than four weeks.
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Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter says his city will need a lot of outside help to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Laura. Hunter is calling for people from across the nation to donate to causes aimed at helping the city and its residents.
He says most of all the city will need a tremendous amount of federal aid.
Early estimates say it could take four weeks for power to be restored to Lake Charles. Hunter feels even that is a bit optimistic.
Hunter did note a silver lining to this tragedy: it appears the people of his city took the mandatory evacuation order very seriously.
Hunter made the comments on Talk Louisiana.
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52,500 homeowners so far have applied for FEMA assistance in the six parishes currently designated for relief.
FEMA Region Six Administrator Tony Robinson says the first step in the road to recovery for homeowners is to seek assistance from your insurance company.
Those in Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Vernon, Allen, and Beauregard Parishes can apply currently, with the list of eligible parishes expected to grow in the near future. So far FEMA has conducted over 200 inspections on homes, resulting in over 650,000 dollars in assistance.
Robinson says after you contact your home insurer and get your settlement documentation, upload that in the FEMA app, or send it in via the method that was provided to you when you registered.
Robinson says some people have already begun receiving denials. He says that is linked to a lack of proper documentation from your home insurer, or lack of documentation proving your identity.
Robinson says there’s a number of ways to submit your application for FEMA aid.
That toll-free number is 1-800-621-FEMA.
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About 44,000 northwest and central Louisiana SWEPCO customers are still without power, but the timeline for restoration has been moved up a day.
Swepco spokesperson Carey Sullivan says restoration for nearly all Bossier City and Haughton residents is expected tonight by 10 PM, with Shreveport and Mansfield expected back online by tomorrow night.
Hornbeck, Natchitoches, and Logansport customers will have to wait until Thursday night.
Sullivan says about 10,000 customers in the Shreveport-Bossier are without power along with 34,000 in central Louisiana.
136,000 of their customers were without power during the peak of the post-Laura period.