The American Red Cross is aiding with hurricane recovery. Brooke Thorington has more from the leader of the humanitarian organization.
Cut 1 (30) “ …I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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Entergy is reporting more progress in restoring power to the tens of thousands who lost it during Hurricane Ida. Here’s Dave Brannen with an update.
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The American Red Cross is aiding in areas of the state that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Ida. President and CEO Gail McGovern has visited southeast Louisiana herself and seen the widespread devastation. She says they are providing a number of services.
McGovern says at the height of providing shelter, the Red Cross assisted up to forty thousand people.
The Red Cross is also distributing cleaning supplies to help those who are able to return to their homes and she says more than ninety-five thousand supplies have been given out. The Red Cross also has 80 feeding trucks in the state and they serve approximately sixty-thousand meals a day.
McGovern says they are even providing counseling for residents to meet their mental needs also.
Despite the fact that the country has been impacted by numerous disasters during the ongoing pandemic from wildfires, floods, and hurricanes McGovern says they are fortunate the public is still engaged with donations to assist, and ninety percent of their workforce consist of volunteers.
McGovern says shelters will remain open until everyone is situated.
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Congressman Steve Scalise says Louisiana’s congressional delegation is on board with likely getting a separate funding package passed to help Ida-ravaged Southeast and Southwest Louisiana. He says the money needed to effect a massive repair effort will require billions of federal dollars due to the damage.
Cut 6 (08) “..development block grants.”
Scalise says it’s highly likely that funding for hurricane repairs shouldn’t be coupled with other infrastructure items under consideration.
Cut 7 (05) “..other unrelated things”
Congressman Scalise, who’s had a first-hand look at the damage doled out by Ida, says he believes Ida packed 190-mile-per-hour winds when it initially came ashore in the Port Fourchon area.
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Entergy Louisiana President Phillip May says the lights are back on for more of the utility’s customers. He says power has now been restored to more than 90-percent of those who can take it in the greater New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas.
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May says so far 682-thousand customers have had their power restored post-Ida of 902-thousand who were left in the dark. The bad news is that more than 90-percent of Entergy’s customers in Lafourche, St. Charles and Terrebonne parishes still have no power.
May says that Entergy and crews from across the nation will not be resting on their successes to date in getting the power back on for nearly 700-thousand customers over the past 10 days.
Some 26-thousand linemen who converged on the state to get the power restored after Ida hit are drawing praise from Entergy New Orleans CEO Deanna Rodriquez.
Crews have restored 98-percent of the power in Orleans Parish as of today. Customers in heavily damaged areas that include Venetian Isle, Irish Bayou and the Lake Catherine area that can accept power could have it restored by this Sunday.
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A juvenile was found fatally shot outside of a home in Natchitoches this morning. Natchitoches Police Corporal John Greely says officers responded to the scene on Highland Park Drive just after six o’clock this morning
Greely says they are asking the public to provide tips that could lead to an arrest.
Greely says the shooting occurred in a residential neighborhood…