Governor John Bel Edwards is once again surveying damage following a powerful hurricane that struck the state. Matt Doyle has more…
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Parishes in southeast Louisiana are assessing damage and beginning the cleanup and recovery from a rare late October storm. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Southeast Louisiana is recovering from the fifth named storm to make landfall in the state this year, the near category three Hurricane Zeta.
Governor Edwards says unfortunately we are reporting the first storm-related death, a 55-year-old New Orleans man who died from electrocution due to a downed powerline.
Power is out to *469,000* customers in Louisiana but Edwards says the good news is preliminary estimates show it won’t be weeks before the lights come on for most customers.
Three breaches have been reported in the Burrito Levee in Grand Isle. CPRA is on the scene assessing the damage.
Edwards surveyed much of southeast Louisiana today by helicopter and says most damage appears to be wind-related.
1,940 National Guardsmen have been activated in support of emergency operations in the state.
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Hurricane Zeta was still a Category One storm when the center of the storm reached St. Tammany Parish. Parish President Mike Cooper says that even though the storm had weakened by the time it got there, St. Tammany still felt some significant winds.
Cooper says another problem for St. Tammany is power outages, which is causing unsafe driving conditions for citizens in the area.
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St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis says winds of 100-miles per hour were clocked at their emergency operations center
Cut 8 (11) “..power lines” (2x)
McInnis says there were no serious injuries during the storm and he would like to keep it that way…
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Zeta made landfall near Cocodrie, which is located in Terrebonne Parish. Lieutenant Brennan Matherne with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s office says the southern end of the parish took a big hit…
Numerous trees are down and there’s property damage in Golden Meadow and Leeville. Zeta was a fast-moving storm and Matherne says the speed of the storm helped minimize the damage.
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The only levee failures from Hurricane Zeta occurred in Grand Isle as the Category Two storm caused three breaches in what as known as the burrito levee, a large roll of plastic filled with sand. Jefferson Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Joseph Valiente says the breaches have led to flooding in the coastal town…
The governor’s office says they have pumps trying to drain the water.
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To say the Bayou State is experiencing weather extremes is an understatement, after a Category Two hurricane strikes the state, now we are experiencing much cooler temperatures in less than 24 hours. State Climatologist Barry Keim says this is a very odd one-two punch.
The cold front is a welcome respite as many are without power after Zeta barreled through.
Keim says the next couple of days could be even colder, not significantly but definitely chilly.
Keim says this is the second latest storm to make landfall in Louisiana with records going back to 1851, the latest was Hurricane Juan in 1985 on October 31st.