Lafourche is one of more than a dozen Louisiana parishes struggling to even begin recovering from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida. Entergy’s Deanna Lafont says the utility situation in Lafourche is really bad. She says “the utility infrastructure has been devastated.” Lamont says its estimated about 90-percent of the Entergy facilities in Lafourche are damaged.
Lafont says the utility has only been able to assess about 40-percent of the damage given the inaccessibility of the southern areas of Lafourche Parish. She says at least 1200 poles are among those damaged or downed by the powerful winds of Ida. According the Lamont, Hurricane Zeta damaged 800 poles throughout the entire parish. Lafont says “it will be weeks before some people get power.”
Lafont says some of the big issues involve getting the materials to rebuild the damaged utility system, finding places for workers to sleep given the lack of habitable motels, and getting food to them. But, she remains optimistic for the parish’s future. She says “we’re strong, we’re resilient, it’s our home, it’s our community” but she advise drivers to not be on the road until they can make further progress with the repair work.
Lafont says damage assessments in the parish are continuing and clearing roadways such as LA-1 is a high priority in order to get heavy equipment in place to continue repairs.
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