As Tropical Storm Francine aims for Louisiana, storm prep is underway
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Mayor LaToya Cantrell introduces a press conference Monday about preparations for Tropical Storm Francine. Photo: Chelsea Brasted/Axios
Storm preparation is underway in the New Orleans metro as Tropical Storm Francine aims for a Wednesday landfall along the Louisiana coast, likely as a Category 2 hurricane.
The latest: As Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency Monday, officials in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish said that they and local infrastructure were ready for Francine's impacts, describing the current forecast as cause to be wary, but not overwhelmed.
- Residents should prepare to stay home Wednesday and Thursday, they said, repeating requests that residents clear catch basins on their streets and check on neighbors.
- "We've been here before. This isn't our first rodeo," said Jefferson Parish Councilman At-Large Scott Walker. "It's a cliché, but you prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
In New Orleans, officials said systems that have failed in previous storms were up and running, if not upgraded, including Entergy's new transmission lines and the Sewerage and Water Board's pumping capabilities.
- At 70 megawatts, the Sewerage and Water Board's current system power, said New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness director Collin Arnold, "is more than we've had for a couple years."
- Arnold's office is also readying three NORD facilities for post-storm resources in case they'll be needed. The list includes facilities on the West Bank and in New Orleans East, as well as one in Central City that'll also be used as a shelter for unhoused people ahead of the storm, he said.
Sandbags will be available in Orleans Parish on Wednesday, officials said.
Yes, but: Memories of the last storm are never far behind in Louisiana's coastal communities.
- About 50 Jefferson Parish residents still recovering from Hurricane Ida in 2021 live in trailers, Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said Monday.
- A shelter will open for those residents and for the parish's unhoused population at Terrytown Playground.
- "It will be a sturdy shelter for you to ride out the storm," Lee Sheng said, noting that anyone who uses it should bring food, water and other personal supplies.
Between the lines: New Orleans' officials plans to stand up a shelter of last resort would have been ready, Arnold said, if the forecast would've been a Category 4 or 5 storm.
- "I'm calling it a wet dry run," he said Monday. "We've been through this before. This is a good opportunity and hopefully the only opportunity this season … to make sure everybody's on the same page."
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