St. Charles Parish President Matt Jewell
Today marks the 100th day of Hurricane Ida recovery. St. Charles Parish President Matt Jewell says temporary housing is still a problem for residents, and the parish’s group site home is still up and running. Jewell says the group site was the first one because the parish took the initiative to begin the site and now it’s being operated by the state.
“We do have our group site up and running, and we have about 155 trailers that have been licensed in meaning the resident has been handed the keys, and roughly 165 that have been put out,” said Jewell.
Jewell anticipates they will end up with approximately 500 trailers for the parish. And while he knows residents are frustrated with the pace of receiving trailers he says since the state took over the program.
“But it’s moving probably 20 times faster than FEMA is. It’s just one of those things as we get into these colder months, you just really know the importance when it starts getting cold at night,” said Jewell.
Even months later Jewell says there are St. Charles Parish residents living in mold-infested homes and some are even using their car as shelter.
“There are people who are in very poor living conditions right now and the recovery process is being slowed, government bureaucracy and frankly insurance companies that aren’t willing to do the right thing and pay people for their coverage,” said Jewell.
Jewell says the parish continues to make strides with recovery with streets and roads and hopes that in the near future housing issues will be resolved.
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