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Landry, Kennedy, state officials commend state's preparedness in wake of Hurricane Francine
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BATON ROUGE — Gov. Jeff Landry and other state officials stressed how important resiliency is to Louisiana's identity at a news conference Thursday after Hurricane Francine made its way through the southeast part of the state the night before.
"There are times and situations that try us, but it's also when we in this state are at our very best," Landry said, referencing a specific instance in New Orleans when a man helped rescue a truck driver who got stuck in floodwaters caused by the storm.
He said that the focus now is recovery and getting debris cleared from roads.
This is Landry and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness' third news conference on the Category 2 storm in three days. Some parts of the state saw more than half of residents lose power, with winds and rain particularly affecting Morgan City, as well as Assumption and Ascension parishes.
Landry also urged residents to stay off the roads as emergency crews continue to clear debris and damage caused by the storm, as well as flood water that remains from the multiple inches of rainfall.
State climatologist Jay Grimes said that areas in the Florida parishes are experiencing river flooding. He added that the storm shifting east and moving slowly was responsible for much of the damage, including up to seven inches of rainfall in New Orleans and double-digit numbers on the North Shore.
The lingering effects of the storm will mostly be power outages, Public Service Commission Executive Secretary Brandon Frey said. Still, he said outage numbers are dropping quickly.
Statewide—excluding Morgan City and Houma which the state Public Service Commission does not regulate—outages peaked at about 410,000.
"We're down to about 355 (thousand) now," Frey said.
In context with hurricanes Gustav and Isaac, two storms that took similar paths and were similarly sized, the outage numbers are significantly lower for Francine. According to Frey, Gustav caused about 1.3 million outages and Isaac caused about 900,000.
State officials said infrastructure upgrades are to thank for the decreasing outage numbers when compared to similar storms.
Department of Children and Family Services Secretary David Matlock said that at the height of the storm, there were 500 people in shelters across the state. Local shelters had a capacity of 5,000, he said. Currently, there are 311 people in 18 shelters across the state, but this number is expected to increase in the next few days, Matlock added.
Sen. John Kennedy also joined Landry in the storm debrief and commended state and local officials for their work preventing a more significant amount of damage. Kennedy also said the damage caused by Francine would have been much worse if not for state and federal investment in flood protection.
"We'll get the money that we deserve from the federal government to help us. That's why we pay taxes," Kennedy said. "Whether it's in the form of public assistance, infrastructure repair, personal assistance, mitigation grants, I'm already talking to my colleagues. The entire congressional delegation is united on this."
Landry will continue from the news conference to a tour of the affected area over the next two days, starting Thursday afternoon with a flyover of St. Mary Parish and continuing to Terrebonne Parish.
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