Terrebonne parish, among the hardest hit by Ida, is still working around the clock to return to a sense of normalcy, though that’s expected to take years to accomplish. An update from Dave Brannen.
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There are concerns that Ida could impact the population in southeast Louisiana, similar to Katrina 16-years ago. Brooke Thorington has more.
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A lot of trees fell victim to Hurricane Ida’s wrath as way too many property owners know about it firsthand. But, Whitney Wallace, an LSU AgCenter Forestry and Wildlife agent, says the damaged and felled trees, particularly on the North Shore, have impacted landowners and agricultural and livestock producers.
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Wallace says the AgCenter, along with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, is continuing to assess the dollar damage with the biggest economic impact expected to be to the agricultural infrastructure and timber.
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Wallace says landowners are pretty familiar with having to deal with downed trees, the worst most recent example prior to Ida was all the timber that Katrina felled 16 years ago.
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The Pfizer vaccine trial for children ages five to eleven indicates promising results. Pfizer is expected to ask the FDA for emergency use authorization in the coming weeks. Tulane Epidemiologist Doctor Susan Hassig says there’s been a significant increase in COVID cases among that age group especially with school back in session.
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Hassig says the FDA asked Pfizer to extend the pediatric vaccine trial by two months so they would have more data to review, even though there is great anticipation to allow those ages five to eleven to be vaccinated.
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In the pediatric trial, children were given the same vaccine as adults, but at a lower dosage. Hassig says parents should be reassured that the FDA will review the data carefully before issuing any type of authorization.
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Since July pediatric cases in the United States have increased by 240-percent.
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Terrebonne Parish is continuing its recovery efforts more than three weeks after Hurricane Ida tore up the coastal area. Parish spokesman, Mart Black, says while most of the power is back and water has been mostly restored, housing for storm victims is the biggest problem.
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Black says Ida left Terrebonne Parish completely in the dark, but today only 16-percent of utility customers don’t have electricity. He gives credit to the power companies…
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He says the hope is to have power restored to everyone whose home or business can safely receive it by September 29th.
Black says one thing that’s getting back to normal in Terrebonne is residential garbage pickup, and he says a contractor is working to clear the curbs of storm debris stacked up by homeowners.
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There are growing concerns of permanent population loss in southeastern coastal parishes after Hurricane Ida. Demographer Greg Rigamer says Ida was a devastating blow and it will be very difficult for Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Charles, and St. John Parishes to recover.
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Since Katrina, the area has suffered devastating effects from Gustav, Isaac, and now Ida. Rigamer, who is a New Orleans resident, says right now he’d guess up to a hundred thousand could leave the coastal parishes permanently.
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The recent population shift however should not impact voting districts. Rigamer says the numbers for redistricting that will be discussed by lawmakers next year are based on the 2020 Census data.
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In New Orleans, more than half of the population left after Katrina close to 250 thousand. Rigamer says he believes the population in non-levee protected parishes will diminish after Ida.