HURRICANE LAURA AFTERMATH - Louisiana residents forced to evacuate because of Hurricane Laura are returning home to survey the damage to their homes and businesses, and some worry they won't get enough help from state and federal officials. On Sunday Gov. John Bel Edwards warned that residents were in for a long recovery but he did say six are parishes are eligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"Anyone who's sustained loss in hurricane Laura can begin applying for assistance today by registering online," Edwards explained. "They can go online to disasterassistance.gov or they can call 1-800-621-FEMA."
Those parishes include: Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vernon. Edwards, has asked that 17 more parishes be added to the list. Hurricane Laura was a Category 4 hurricane with 150-mph winds as it hit the Louisiana-Texas coastal region. It is blamed for 18 deaths in Texas and Louisiana. But many of those deaths were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning from the improper use of generators after power service went out.
Hurricane Laura disrupted electrical power service to thousands of people. More than 350,000 Louisianans from Cameron to Lake Charles and Alexandria to Monroe remained without electricity Sunday, while 87 water systems serving upward of 150,000 people remained inoperable. Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) reports it has restored Power to Nearly 60% of Customers in its service area since the storm hit. At the storm’s peak Thursday, 136,000 customers in SWEPCO’s service areas in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas were without power and 81,000 SWEPCO customers have since had power restored.
Malcom Smoak is president of SWEPCO and says the company is working hard to get power restored as soon as possible.
"The devastation is slowing restoration, roads have been blocked but they're getting cleared now," Smoak said. "We're going to restore this power to you much quicker than it was anticipated originally, we appreciate your patience."
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, about 18,000 customers in the Shreveport-Bossier area and 37,000 in central Louisiana remained without power. SWEPCO says power should be restored to 95% of customers in the next 1 to 3 days. The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory until 7pm. Louisiana residents can call 211 to find cooling centers and other assistance.
