Catastrophe modeler and property data firm CoreLogic is estimating insured losses from Francine will reach $1.5 billion. According to a report by Insurance Journal, CoreLogic estimates total damage and economic loss will reach $9 billion. Louisiana state and local leaders wasted little time to begin their own assessments of the damage caused by Hurricane Francine. That included an aerial survey late last week of that damage in southeast Louisiana. Governor Jeff Landry said they were joined by FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell for the aerial assessment. Landry explained their assessment strategy that “Gives us an opportunity to ask people to come down here and see where there are deficiencies in the process, how we can fix that particular bureaucracy, where we have some weak links.”
Power Outages
On Thursday night, the day after Francine made landfall [at 5:00 p.m. {CST), Wednesday, September 11, in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, 30 miles SSW of Morgan City], more than 149,000 customers were still without power. That’s according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us, from a peak of 450,000 customers. Gov. Landry said he had expected the power to be fully restored by Sunday.
At 7:00 a.m. (CST) on this Monday, Entergy listed only 2,463 of their 1.1 million Louisiana customers still without power, with roughly half (1,752) located in Terrebonne Parish. Cleco, with its 295,000 customers in 24 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes (primarily in central and southwest LA), had just 454 customers still without power, almost all in Rapides Parish.
Flood Insurance
A coalition of Louisiana officials, including Gov. Landry, asked FEMA to lower flood insurance rates for Terrebonne Parish residents after the Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District system had stopped Hurricane Francine’s storm surge. Landry said the levees may have saved the country billions of dollars. “This would be a much different place had we not invested the amount of money that we have invested in this area.”
currently, FEMA’s flood maps don’t account for the parish’s regional levee system. U.S. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana says Francine makes it clear this should change. “That’s why we pay taxes, whether it’s in the form of public assistance, infrastructure repair, personal assistance, mitigation grants. I’ve already started talking to my colleagues.”
Property Damage
The state wants to hear from anyone who suffered storm damage from Hurricane Francine. State emergency officials say that information will help local, state and federal authorities determine which areas suffered the worst damage. New Orleans Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (NOHSEP) Director Collin Arnold says you can also upload photos to them on their website. “It’s a very useful tool because we do have a declaration for this. We do have a damage threshold that we must meet. And any assistance you can do to help us document damage is very helpful to us and to the state.” The website is: Damage.LA.Gov.
