Like other parishes in southeast Louisiana, St. John the Baptist Parish is undergoing several hurdles with recovery from Hurricane Ida. Parish President Jaclyn Hotard said about 90% of the parish has power and their water systems have been restored but they remain under a boil water advisory.
“The Louisiana Department of Health says they won’t even come and take a sample until we’re all back on electricity, so we’re hoping that we can get off of these boil water advisories soon,” said Hotard.
As for regular debris removal, so far, the parish has removed 150,000 cubic yards of debris.
Hotard said like other surrounding parishes one of the biggest obstacles they are facing is the great need to speed up household trash pickup and to assist she’s issued an emergency bid to have trash removed ASAP.
“And also, we entered into some other agreements for some additional disposal capacity so that we can try and get this trash off of the ground. It’s been a nightmare to say it nicely,” says Hotard.
Hotard said FEMA is embedded in the parish assisting residents with their applications and they are also beginning to see progress with the blue roof program. She said nineteen have been installed so far of the more than two thousand requested.
The parish broke ground on a levee this year that is expected to be completed in 2024. Hotard said a completed structure would have made a difference with Hurricane Ida.
“We needed that levee like yesterday, but we’re still grateful that this project has been funded because we don’t have levee protection, so we’re vulnerable to Lake Pontchartrain,” said Hotard.
The $750-million levee is being paid for with a combination of federal and state funds.
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